


Who Cares About Stats

by TheExiled1809



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, And their memories are wiped before each test, Angst and Fluff, Confusion, Friends to Lovers, Hiatus, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Multi, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Newt, Protective Thomas, Sassy Minho, Secrets, Suicide Attempt, Then put in an environment with the other two so wicked can see why the bond is so strong, Threesome - M/M/M, WICKED puts our boys through a bunch of tests, You can stop at chapter five
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-04-06 20:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4236144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheExiled1809/pseuds/TheExiled1809
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Minho turns eighteen, he knows he will get a mark. What he didn't expect was for two names to show up. Thomas turns eighteen a month later and confronts Minho about it. Enter Newt. He's been pining after the two idiots for a while, but thought they were together. But they're both his...soulmates?</p><p>Now, WICKED wants to know what's so special about them that they defy the universe? They'll try to find the answer through many different experiments in different worlds, showing just how strong their bond is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Minho

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So when Minho Park gets two names written on him when he turns eighteen, you would understand why the boy decided to tell no one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats?
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 1: Minho

Soulmates. People always said the concept of soulmates was quite simple. On your eighteenth birthday, you will get your soulmate's name written somewhere on your body. It's always someone you've met sometime in your life, whether it be someone you saw only for a few seconds, or your best friend. They are the ones most compatible for you.

But it's actually more complex then that. You might not ever meet your soulmate after your marking day, and grow up without a compatible match. Your soulmate could reject you. They could believe that their mark was wrong, that someone else was the right one for them. For all you know, your soulmate could be dead.

If you do meet your soulmate, it's not like the fairy tales. It's not magical, like many people work it out to be. The world doesn't stop when you see your soulmate. You don't get married right away, have children, and have basically a happily ever after. You will have your ups and downs in your relationship. You have arguments, you have differences.

Soulmates aren't the other half you've been missing, like many compare it to. It feels that way once you've gotten past the obstacles of a relationship, but not at the moment you meet them. Your soulmate is the one you're most compatible with. The one who the universe thinks you'll work the best with. Not the one perfect for you. No one is perfect for you in this world.

Sometimes, it just doesn't work, and you either find someone else, or mourn the rest of your life, being unhappy. You just have to find a way to make the relationship work, whether it be with your soulmate, or someone else.

There hasn't been a case where someone doesn't get a name. You always get a mark. Everyone gets one name written permanently on your body. Only one.

So when Minho Park gets two names written on him when he turns eighteen, you would understand why the boy decided to tell no one.

_/Line Break\_

Minho groaned as he heard knocking on his window. The sleepy boy turned over to his alarm clock. Minho opened his eyes slowly, and blinked blearily. It was only shucking six o'clock!

There was only one slinthead who would do this. The Asian mentally corrected himself. Two slintheads. He got out of bed slowly when he heard more knocking.

Minho walked to his window and glared at the two figures on his roof. After flipping them the finger, he opened up the window quietly, knowing his parents were still sleeping since it was only six o'clock in the morning!

"What the shuck, dudes?" he whispered, his voice rough from sleep. In response, one figure shoved him aside and started climbing in the room. Ugh, Minho should've just ignored it and went back to sleep. The shuckfaces could see him later at a reasonable time. Not six o'clock in the damn morning!

A boy stood in his room. He had ruffled dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He was tall, but slightly shorter than Minho. He was lean and muscled with sharp cheekbones coupled with a mischievous smirk. And at that moment, Minho knew the little slinthead woke him up at this time on purpose.

Another figure climbed into his room gracefully. This was a boy with a square jaw and chocolate brown eyes. He had long blonde hair, and was shorter than the other boy. He was lean, and very lightly muscled.

"Happy Marking Day!" cheered the brunette before Minho clapped a hand over his mouth. His dark eyes glared at the muffling boy.

"Shut up, Thomas!" he hissed lowly. "My parents are sleeping."

The taller boy finally took his hand away from Thomas's mouth. His blue eyes glared at the Asian, and he childishly stuck his tongue out. Minho rolled his eyes.

"Newt, he's being mean to me!" Thomas whined. The blonde rolled his eyes too.

"Stop annoying him, and maybe he'll stop," suggested Newt.

"But it's his Marking Day!" he protested. "It's time to celebrate! Dude, you're gonna get your soulmate's name written on you. One step closer to being happy."

Minho felt a pang in his chest. The three boys have been best friends since they were very little. After they started getting older, the Asian couldn't stop a little attraction growing. And the bad thing was, it wasn't to one of them, but both of them.

He hid it easily with a groan. "Maybe my soulmate and I won't work. It's not one step to being happier."

Newt raised an eyebrow. "But it could be," he replied, his voice hinting at a British accent. "Your soulmate is the one most compatible for you. You could be happy."

Minho shrugged in response. "Eh, no one can handle this." He motioned to himself, smirking slightly. Newt just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"And anyways," the oldest boy continued. "I haven't gotten a name yet."

Thomas shrugged. "Then let's celebrate you being a bachelor before you get marked and tied down forever," he grinned.

"I'm not going to be tied down," Minho reminded the other boy.

"Whatever," interrupted Newt. He held up two bottles of beer in his hand and held one out to Minho. Thomas held up another bottle.  
"We're celebrating this like real men."

Minho smirked and nodded, taking one.

_/Line Break\_

Minho's parents came and wished him happy birthday at nine o'clock. Thomas and Newt hid in the closet. His parents couldn't stay for long because they had work to do at the firm. They owned a law firm, and Minho knew he wanted to follow their footsteps when he was older. He was going to inherit the firm.

Minho's closet was pretty small, and when you shoved two tall boys in there, there wasn't much space. Thomas curled his arms around Newt's waist to make more room, and the Brit curled up to Thomas because of how cramped it was.

Newt could feel Thomas's breath on his ear. He closed his eyes for a moment. This was bloody close to perfect. If only Minho were here, everything would be perfect.

The blonde's eyes flew open. Bloody hell. What was he thinking? Minho was getting his mark today. His soulmate was bound to love him because he was a perfect, funny, sassy little shit. And Minho was probably not going to get Newt's name written on his body. And then there is the fact of Thomas. No one gets two soulmates. But he can still dream for eight more months.

"Are they gone?" Thomas whispered. He hoped so. The older boy didn't know how long he could hold Newt like this and not be affected. How could he not? The younger boy was beautiful. He was so kind and sweet and funny. But Minho... Minho was hot. Very hot. He still had a month before his Marking Day, so let him dream before it gets shattered by a name etched permanently on his body forever.

Newt held his breath for a few seconds before exhaling. He started to giggle softly. Then it grew louder. Soon, Thomas joined him.

Minho glanced at his closet. He strides up to it and ripped open the door. The two idiots fell out and sprawled on the ground, still giggling. Thomas had fallen forward on top of Newt. He put his forearms on either side of the blonde's face, giggling slightly. Then he realized what position he's in and scrambled up from the younger boy, face burning.

Minho arched an eyebrow. He looked down on Newt and noticed how the Brit's face was slightly flushed. The Asian smirked.

"Been snogging in there?" he chuckled. Thomas went redder and punched him. Which in turn made Minho laugh harder. He wasn't sure how he felt. The thought of Thomas and Newt kissing made him get a warm feeling in the bottom of his gut. But he detected something else too. Jealousy. God, he had to stop thinking about this. He was going to be marked today, for Christ's sake!

"So did you guys only bring three bottles," he asked instead. "That won't last us long. My parents are working a little bit at the firm, then going to sleep at a hotel for some alone time." The thought made Minho wriggle his nose. Gross.

Thomas smirked and went back to Minho's window. He reached outside for a few seconds before drawing back his arms. Clutched tightly was a six pack in each hand.

"Don't worry, bro," the brunette grinned. "We brought enough to last us the whole day."

Minho smirked and grabbed a bottle of beer. Thomas and Newt did the same. They raised their bottles silently before tipping the contents into their mouth.

_/Line Break\_

Minho groaned from where he was laying on the bed. There was a heavy weight on his chest, which turned out to be Newt's head. The blonde was curled up to Minho's chest. Figures, the boy was always a cuddly drunk. Thomas was grinning in his sleep from where he lay on the other side of Newt. He was a happy drunk. He had one arm under the Brit's waist and the other tucked under his head.

But that wasn't what woke Minho up. He was getting a tickling sensation on his chest. He groggily lifted his head to see what time it was. 10:42 pm. He took in the discarded beer bottles tossed around his room. Damn, they had gotten really drunk.

Minho wanted to lay in bed for a little longer, but the tickling sensation turned into a burning one. He untangled himself from the bed, waking no one up because they were out like stones.

He ran to the bathroom and ripped off his shirt. Literally. Eh, the white shirt had beer stains. He never liked that one anyway.

He grabbed his chest as the sensation turned searing. He cried out in pain and dropped to the floor. It lasted for a few seconds before stopping. But the boy was afraid to stand up. Was this his mark? What name did he get? Who was he probably going to spend the rest of his life with? God, he hoped it wasn't Teresa Agnes. That would be horrible. That girl is annoying. Always making heart eyes at Thomas and stealing him.

The Asian finally mustered the courage to stand up. He kept his eyes firmly on his face in the mirror. Short black hair and dark calculating eyes. A hooked nose with thin lips. He slowly looked further down. Oh my God. A name was etched from the end of his left collarbone to the top of his chest, arching slightly.

It was Thomas.

But that wasn't the part he was surprised at. He was surprised, but there was more. A name was attached to Thomas. Another name.

What the hell?

Attached to the 'a' in Thomas, another name was crossing it neatly.

Isaac.

The boy inhaled quickly. What the hell was this? No one has ever gotten two names. Why him? Who the hell was Isaac? He wasn't aware of any Isaac's in his life. Unless...

The dark haired boy sucked in another breath. Newt had once told the two boys that 'Newt' was only a nickname because his real name sounded too professional and he didn't like it. Could it be...

He groaned. Of course, life had to decide that they would screw him over. One of his only chances at happiness, and he gets something that's never happened ever before.

He needed to keep this quiet. Minho would wait until the other two turned eighteen. He'd see what happens. It wasn't that long of a wait. Thomas's birthday was in around a month. But Newt's? His was in eight. He can keep quiet for now.

The Asian snuck into his room. He checked the other two to see if they were sleeping. They were out. He then grabbed a black t-shirt and hastily threw it on.

Minho went into the hallway and grabbed a pillow and blankets. He couldn't sleep next to him, not after his marks. Hell, he needed to see if Newt's actual name was Isaac.

He laid on the floor and stared into the darkness. The muscular boy breathed in, then out. His mind was racing. Finally, he gave up trying to figure this out. They can do that later.

The boy closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.

_/Line Break\_

"Min."

A foot nudged the Asian. He groaned and rolled over.

"Minho."

The voice was louder this time. Why couldn't it just leave him alone. He wanted to sleep.

The voice didn't say anything for a long time. Minho was drifting back to sleep when an icy feeling hit him. Literally.

He snapped his eyes open and bolted up, very awake. Thomas stood there with a bowl in his hand. Newt was smiling giddily next to the brunette.

Minho was soaking. His shirt and jeans stuck to him. He found ice in places you shouldn't find ice in.

"Um, Min?" Newt said, sounding awkward. He was staring at the taller boy's left shoulder. Minho glanced down and saw the tip of a black thing sticking out of his shirt. Crap.

He bolted to his dresser, grabbed a shirt and shorts, then bolted to the bathroom. Thomas stared after him, confused. Strange. Usually the older boy would change his shirt in front of them.

"Remember, he has his mark now," reminded Newt, answering Thomas's unasked question. Thomas nodded. Right. Minho Park was marked forever.

_/Line Break\_

Thomas half expected Minho to tell one of the boys that their name was written on his body forever. But he never did. Instead, he asked Newt a strange question.

"So Newt," he started. "I remember you told us once that 'Newt' was just a nickname."

Newt nodded slowly. "Yeah. I took the name Newt after my last name, Newton. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering what your real name was," the other boy asked. He ran a hand through his short hair.

Newt arched an eyebrow. "Isaac," he answered.

Minho exhaled harshly through his nose. Thomas thought that Minho was actually going to tell Newt that his name was forever etched on his body. But instead, the Asian shrugged.

"Interesting," he said instead. "Why don't you go by it?"

Newt shrugged. "It sounds to posh for my liking."

Thomas leaned forward. "So who's the lucky person stuck with you for the rest of their life?" he joked, wriggling his eyebrows.

Minho gave him a strange look. It was a mix of hurt and secrecy. Weird. "Remember? They aren't stuck with me. I can be with someone else too."

"Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it," Newt butted in. "It would be like you talking about getting Brenda marked on your skin."

Thomas shuddered. That women was creepy. She was obsessed with Thomas. If he got her, he would commit murder to the nearest person.

"Okay, whatever."

They sat in silence. Tension was thick between them, and Thomas didn't even know why! Finally, he said he needed to go do chores. Even though the other two knew the brunette didn't do chores. They just let him walk out.

And that hurt. In the past, the boys would call him out on his lie. So they could hang out together longer. But here they are, letting Thomas leave, not saying anything.

Whatever. The brunette boy wouldn't let that bother him. He drove to Teresa's house. His other best friend.

_/Line Break\_

Minho awkwardly said that his parents were coming home soon, and Newt might need to leave soon. So basically, the other boy was kicking him out. Wonder what that was about.

Oh well. Minho better get over his little mood soon. In the meantime, having some alone time sounded great. Sleeping sounded like heaven.

_/Line Break\_

Minho breathed slowly to calm his racing heart. Crap. Newt's real name was Isaac. Maybe it was a different Thomas and Isaac. They were common names. It might not be his best friends.

The boy shook his head. He'd find out when Thomas's birthday came up. But right now, he needed to keep this a secret. And that might mean distancing himself from his two best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Okay! New TMR story for you guys! I love the soulmate AU and this popped in my head. I played with the idea and sent it to another writer. They said they loved it and I needed to write it now. So I did. I had free time on my vacation. This is multiple chapters. One for each of the boys, then maybe a sequel. First is Minho, because he's the oldest in the story. Him and Thomas's birthday are about a month apart. Next is Newt's, who's birthday is seven months after Thomas. So next chapter is Thomas and him getting a soul mark, and confronting Minho about it. Tell me what you think, like, and what I should fix. See ya!


	2. Gangs And Guns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt yelled, and it echoed off the buildings surrounding them. Thomas's head whipped around to see what the blonde was looking at. And then his heart nearly stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter Two: Gangs And Guns

It was two weeks after Minho's Marking Day. And he was panicking. It was hard to suddenly distance yourself from your two best friends! When you use to tell them everything, it took all of Minho's will not to just spill it. Now, he had to wear shirts that had a high neckline that wouldn't show his marks.

"Screw my life," he said. He was walking downtown alone. And he was so lost in thought that he hadn't realized that he was in the bad part of town. Where the most crime happens.

The boy was walking past two buildings when he heard shouting coming from a long, dark alleyway. And two of the voices sounded very familiar.

"Shuck it," he muttered before running in the alley. He emerged in a small clearing that had cracked asphalt and garbage cans surrounding a lot of the perimeter. Oh, and the fighting people.

There were around twenty minutes people. His eyes roamed the figures before stopping on two. Thomas and Newt? What the shuck were those idiots doing here?

No one had spotted him yet, and the Asian was frozen in place. He watched as someone grabbed the blonde harshly. Thomas roared and socked him in the jaw. His head snapped back, and the boy let go of Newt in surprise.

But sheer numbers overwhelmed the two. A tall, skinny blonde grabbed Thomas's arms and forced him to his knees. One hand gripped his neck while the other was tangled in his hair, pulling his head back. Thomas looked beat up. A split lip with a slowly swelling eye and a bruising cheek. There were various cuts on his arms and legs, and his right forearm had a long gash going from his elbow to his wrist.

Newt was being held back by another kid. The Brit wasn't in much better shape. He had bruised knuckles and a cut going across his left cheek. His bottom lip was puffy and purple. Despite all the cuts and bruises, the boy was still yelling abuse at his attackers.

"Shut him up," ordered a scratchy voiced boy. He seemed like the ringleader. He had short black hair and cold green eyes. His skin was littered with scars and fitted over defined muscles.

The boy holding Newt obeyed him immediately. He forced the blonde's mouth open and shoved makeshift gag. Newt was still screaming, but now it was quiet and muffled.

"Let him go, you bastards!" screamed Thomas. The leader made a motion with his hand, and the boy restraining Thomas punched the brunette across the face. His head snapped back. Thomas lifted up his face. His nose was leaking blood, and yet, he still found it in himself to growl and bare his teeth.

"What do you want!" he growled.

"Money," the black haired boy answered with a smirk. "And, anything valuable you have. Like that golden watch on your wrist."

Thomas glared. Minho knew why. That was his only remainder of his mother. She had died when he was little, and she had given him that before she died.

"We can track you down!" he threatened. "We'll go to the police! You won't get away."

The other boy frowned. "Well, that would be unfortunate. Since you suggested that, I might have to get rid of you then."

Minho scowled as he saw the leader draw out a gun lightning fast. Newt's eyes widened in surprise and a little bit of fear. Thomas hissed lowly.

"We can't let you give a visit to the police," drawled the armed boy. "They might find us then."

He leveled it at Thomas. Minho tensed, ready to run at the boy. Then the ringleader laughed and lowered it.

"You've been annoying me," he declared. "Hurting my gang, screaming loudly, and even threatening me in my territory. You'll be killed last. You seem to care much about the other boy though."

He turned and grinned at Newt. The boy lowered his gun at the Brit.

"Gally, you can't be serious," a voice spoke. Minho shot a glance to the speaker. He had olive skin and short dark hair. He was tall and muscular. Come to think of it, Minho thought he looked familiar.

"I am, Aris," the leader, Gally spoke lowly. "Are you questioning me?"

Aris Jones! He was a friend of Thomas!

The olive skinned boy looked down. "No."

Gally's hard eyes stared at him for a moment. "Good."

He turned around. "Ben, hold him down." He made a motion towards Thomas.

The gun was pointed at Newt's face. The blonde stared at Gally in the eye.

"I'll kill you!" yelled Thomas. But he was quickly silenced with another blow to the face.

Minho growled lowly. This asshole thought he could kill his best friends and get away with it? He stared at the gun. The finger on the trigger tensed, and Minho knew he needed to take action now.

The Asian tensed, muscles taut. Then he launched himself in the clearing, running lightning fast at the boy with the gun. Minho lowered his head and tackled the leader. Gally grunted in surprise. They landed on the ground. The other boy recovered fast. He lashed out at Minho and caught his abdomen. The Asian rolled them over and straddled Gally's thighs. He started punching the smaller boy over and over. But Gally played dirty. The butt of the gun flew towards Minho's head. The taller boy cried in surprise.

He stumbled off Gally and ran into one of his gang members. The member punched Minho across the face, but the Asian retaliated quickly and socked him in the stomach.

In the midst of confusion, Thomas elbowed Ben in the crotch. The boy behind him yelped and fell to the ground. He had started fighting beside Minho, making his way towards Newt.

But Newt looked like he could handle it. He swept his leg under his captor's legs, and the other boy fell on his butt. Newt scrambled up and ripped the gag from his mouth. The boy who was holding him got up from the ground. He grappled with the Brit.

There was shouting all around them. People were running and falling. Then something silenced all of them.

A gunshot rang through the clearing. A cry followed it. Thomas took advantage of everyone stopping and ran towards his blonde companion. The brunette swung his fist at the boy grappling with Newt. It hit him in the stomach, and the other boy wheezed before falling to the ground.

Newt yelled, and it echoed off the buildings surrounding them. Thomas's head whipped around to see what the blonde was looking at. And then his heart nearly stopped.

Minho laid on the ground holding his right shoulder. His fingers were pressing against his shirt, which was turning crimson. Gally was standing opposite of him, gun shaking because of his hand. A tear ran down his cheek.

And Thomas lost it. He and Newt started running, but they parted ways quickly. The blonde ran to Minho's side, but Thomas ran to Gally. Who just stood there, shocked. The brunette tackled him and delivered blows to his face, chest, and everywhere else. He didn't see that Gally's eyes were rolling up into his head. He didn't hear the yells and shouts around him. He didn't feel the bruising of his knuckles. He was enraged.

"Thomas, stop!" Newt screamed. "You're going to kill him."

But Thomas didn't hear. If he did, he didn't care. But something else made him stop flinging blows at the body.

"Stop," Minho barked. "It's not worth going to prison for this jerk. But a hospital sounds nice."

Thomas watched as Gally's gang rushed to pick up their leader's limp body before running away. His blue eyes glared at Aris's retreating form before running to his Asian friend.

"Take off your shirt," demanded Newt.

Minho gritted his teeth together. "No."

"Why," the blonde screeched. "I need to check your wound."

"I can't," The older boy replied through clenched teeth.

"Why not?" Thomas prodded. Minho glared.

"I'll be fine," he said stubbornly. "The bullet only grazed the side of my shoulder. Just a gash."

"You could still get an infection," stressed Newt.

"I'll drive to the hospital," the Asian snapped back.

Thomas watched this silently. Why won't he let Newt check his wound? Newt was a doctor in training. He wanted to go to med school. Is it because of his marks?

"Damn it, Min!" yelled the younger boy. "Let me see your shucking wound!"

"No," Minho yelled back. He got up with difficulty. The boy took careful steps out of the alley, holding his shoulder and trying not to grimace in pain. His form got smaller and smaller.

Thomas and Newt didn't try to stop him.

_/Line Break\_

Minho clenched his teeth so he wouldn't let out any sound. Damn. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't go to the hospital, they would find out. But the wound was most likely to get infected, so he couldn't leave it alone.

Scowling, he called his uncle. He was a doctor. And he was a lot like Minho. Which translated into being a sarcastic little shit.

"Well," drawled a bored voice from his phone. "What did I do to have pleasure of talking to my favorite nephew?" He put stress on the word favorite.

Minho rolled his eyes. "I need you to come over here now."

"Why?" came the reply.

"Because I need you to," Minho growled.

"Tell me why and maybe I'll come," his uncle said in an amused voice.

"Jorge," Minho pleaded. "Just come over. I need your help."

There was a pause. "Alright. I'll be there in ten minutes. This better be good, muchacho."

He hung up, and Minho sighed. His Uncle Jorge was a man with a strange sense of humor.

There was knocking on his door, and the Asian got up, wincing because of his shoulder. He walked to the door and opened it. Outside stood a tall, Hispanic person in his early thirties. He had a smirk on his face and eyes glittering of mischief.

"Yes, muchacho?" Jorge asked. "This better be important."

"How about a gunshot wound?" asked Minho.

He smirked as Jorge's mouth fell open. But the smirk quickly vanished as his shoulder started throbbing painfully again. He winced and say down in an armchair.

"A gunshot wound?" Jorge repeated. "How the hell did you get shot?"

"A gang with a gun," his nephew responded, clutching his left shoulder.

"Why didn't you go to the hospital?!" exploded the man.

"I couldn't," growled the Asian. "But I can't have it get infected.

"Idiot," muttered Jorge. He went to his car to get his first aid kit out. The Hispanic man held up some bandages.

"Shirt off. Now," he ordered firmly. But Minho shook his head.

Jorge stared at him. "Take off your shirt, or I'm not treating it."

Minho huffed and pulled his arm out of the sleeve, face screwing up in pain. He got out his right arm with difficulty, the shirt still covering his left collarbone and chest. He couldn't let anyone see his marks, not even his Uncle.

Jorge raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but didn't utter a word. Instead, he frowned and looked at the wound. It was more like a gash because it had only grazed his shoulder, not directly hit it. It was crusted with dry blood, and new blood was still leaking from the wound.

"What the hell did you do to yourself?" he asked in disbelief.

"Not what I did," Minho reminded him. "What gangs and guns did to me."

Jorge snorted. He left the room and came back with a wet washcloth.

"Hold still," he commanded. "I'm gonna wash off the blood."

Jorge gently cleaned the blood off of the wound. Minho grunted.

"Okay. We need to put some antiseptic on it, then wrap it up with bandages."

Minho nodded. He watched as Jorge did all this, clenching his teeth as not to make a sound.

"Finished," said his Uncle, proudly observing his work. "You need to change the bandages every few hours. Luckily, it wasn't bad. Just like a huge scratch."

Minho took it all in. "Okay."

"And call me if anything out of the ordinary happens."

"I don't know what's ordinary," replied the boy.

"If you had gone to the hospital, this wouldn't be a problem," muttered Jorge, glaring at Minho.

He shrugged, then screwed up his face. The other man raised an eyebrow.

"No moving that arm either," he instructed.

Minho rolled his eyes, but nodded.

Jorge stared at him for a second, then marched out.

"Bye, nephew," he called.

"See ya."

Minho frowned once he was out the door. He really needed to avoid Newt and Thomas now. He couldn't afford to slip up, not when Thomas's birthday was around a week away. Newt would be out of town, and Minho just needed to stay away from the brunette. Just until after his Marking Day. Can't be that hard, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So I know I originally said that Thomas's chapter was next and that there would only be four chapters. But an author with the pen name of mistystar brought up some new ideas that I really wanted to use. So this is one of the ideas they sent me. Next will be Thomas's chapter. And this will not be four chapters anymore. And if you do ever get shot, go you e hospital. Don't do what Minho did because the author doesn't know how to treat a bullet wound. Tell me what you like, think, and what I can fix. See ya!


	3. Thomas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What the hell," Thomas breathed. He traced the letters in the second name. Isaac.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter Three: Thomas

Thomas felt abandoned. There was no other word for it. Maybe lonely, but abandoned was more how he felt.

Newt had gone on vacation to Switzerland with his family. And right now, Newt was the only one he basically had. Minho? Well, Minho was acting weird. Especially after the gun wound. They don't hang out a lot anymore. He makes up weak excuses to not hang out with Thomas and Newt. He seems to avoid them at school. It was like he was distancing himself from them. He wouldn't even tell them about how his shoulder is doing!

The only one he had right now was Teresa. Who he was hanging out with at the moment.

"Thomas?" she spoke in the silence. He grunted in response from where he was laying on her bed, pillow on his head.

"So you know my Marking Day was a few weeks ago," she said, twiddling her fingers.

He sat up from the bed, suddenly interested. He stared at where she was sitting on the end of the bed, her blue eyes focused on her fingers. Strange. She usually was straightforward and confident.

"I got a name. He's a few weeks younger than me, and his birthday is in a few days," she continued. "In your class actually, and I think he's my soulmate."

The brunette across from her furrowed his eyebrows, expression thoughtful. He was a few weeks younger than her. In the class as himself, and his birthday is in a few days. One day, actually.

"Are you talking about me," he blurted out. Teresa blushed brightly before frowning at the boy.

"Ew," she wriggled her nose. "Ew, ew, ew. Ew. Gross. Why would you say that?!"

Thomas flushed, embarrassed. "It sounded like you were explaining me!"

"Ew no!" she scrunched up her face. "No, I'm explaining a guy named Aris Jones!"

"Oh," the boy said. "Okay good. You're like a sister to me."

"Hopefully that will actually be true. How long do ya think our parents are gonna dance around each other?" she smirked.

Thomas shrugged. "It depends. When is my dad finally gonna man up and ask your mom to marry him?"

"Hmm," Teresa replied, mock thoughtful. "I dunno. I hope it's soon through. I've already seen planned the wedding." She grinned.

"Great," he grinned. "Thomas Agnes would be awesome. My last name sucks. Thomas Edison makes me sound old."

"You could be called Tom or Tommy" she suggested.

"Only you call me Tom, and only Newt calls me Tommy."

Teresa grinned and made a face Thomas would call her evil face. "Since we are on the topic of Newt, you guys have been hanging out a lot lately."

Thomas blushed and tried to cover it up with punching her. Lightly of course.

"Me and Newt hung out since we were kids," he defended.

"You, Newt, and Minho," she corrected. "If I'm right, Minho hasn't been around lately."

"That's been usual now," he frowned. "Ever since his Marking Day..."

"Hey, you're Marking Day is coming up tomorrow," she patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe he's avoiding you because he got your name! That wouldn't be so bad. He isn't hard on the eyes at all." she smirked.

The brunette boy snorted. "Yeah right. Doubt it."

But that could be the reason Minho's acting weird. He could've gotten Newt's name instead of Thomas's though. The Asian had asked what's Newt's real name, which was odd. and he wouldn't take off his shirt to let Newt see his wound.

"About Marking Day," Thomas changed the topic. "Who did you get?"

The brunette girl stood up. "Here. Lemme show you." Thomas tried to object, but she didn't listen.

Teresa pulled up her shirt on the right side. Not too high, thank god. Only to her rib. Written on her hip in stark black were the letters ARIS.

He scowled. Aris wasn't a common name. And you had to have met your soulmate sometime in your life. Teresa knew him, which made Aris Jones a likely candidate.

Of course it had to be the asshole that was in the gang that shot Thomas. The person who almost let Thomas get killed was the one Teresa gets. Because that was his life.

"His birthday is in a few days. Maybe he'll ask you about me, or drop some hints," she continued.

Thomas snorted. "Probably not."

Teresa frowned. "Why?"

Thomas just shook his head. "He just won't."

"And I'm sorry about not being here tomorrow," she added, changing the topic again.

"It's fine," he reassured her. "It's just a name. It's not like they're my future spouse. And it's not like you can stop from going to your dad's house for the weekend."

"Still, I wish I could be there."

"Eh. If it were someone like Brenda, I would have to commit murder. So you wouldn't wanna be around me," he joked.

Teresa cocked an eyebrow. "Brenda's not that bad."

Thomas laughed. "Yeah. She stalks me. And have you seen how she looks at me? Creepy." The girl opposite of him let out a pack of giggles.

They were interrupted by a ringing phone. Teresa frowned as she answered it.

"Hey, mom," she greeted. Then frowned. "Do I have to?" Another pause. "But it's Thomas's birthday tomorrow. His Marking Day!" Then she sighed. "Fine."

She hung up. "Mom says I have to go to my dad's tomorrow. Sorry, Tom."

The boy shrugged. "It's okay."

But now he would have no one. Newt's in Switzerland. Teresa's at her dad's. Chuck is at the hospital because the doofus fell down the stairs and broke his arm. His dad would be too busy working because he needed to support both him and his son. And Minho was avoiding him.

He sighed. What was wrong with the world?

"Anyways, mom says I have to leave," the brunette girl pouted. "See ya, Tom."

She stood up and hugged him. He squeezed her tightly. He walked her out to her car, and watched her drive away.

His eyes widened as he looked at his watch. 10:30 at night? Already? God, tomorrow, he was going to be marked forever. He could never dream of being with Minho and Newt again. He would see the person that he was most likely to be with the rest of his life.

The brunette shook his head. It wasn't here yet. His birthday was tomorrow. And he needed to sleep for that.

Thomas flopped on his bed. He half expected to be woken up early by a tall Asian and a British blonde, but he knew that wouldn't actually happen. He sighed and closed his eyes. The boy would think about his screwed up friendship tomorrow. Sleep sounded like bliss right now.

_/Line Break\_

Thomas was woken up by his dad carrying a doughnut with a candle on it. He was smiling widely and dining Happy Birthday.

Thomas smiled and hugged him once he was finished.

"Thanks, dad," he grinned. His father grinned back.

"No problem, kiddo," he said, and ruffled his hair. Then his smile turned wistful. "You look more and more like your mother everyday."

Thomas hugged him tighter. His dad was devastated when his mom died. He started drinking heavily after the funeral. But he stopped once he noticed how his little boy was getting thinner and there were bags under his eyes. That was because Thomas had always cleaned up the messes his father made. He stayed up every night to make sure his father came home. And he always put a blanket over him when his father collapsed on the couch. Mr. Edison stopped drinking after he noticed how badly it was affecting his son.

"I'm sorry, Thomas," his father said. "I wish I could be here for your birthday, but work won't give me a day off."

"It's okay," Thomas was quick to reassure him. "I'll be fine."

The man's eyebrows knitted together. "Are you sure?"

His son nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay," replied Mr. Edison. "Well, I have to go. See ya later tonight."

Thomas watched as his dad hopped in his car and drove off. He walked upstairs slowly.

"Well," he said aloud. "It's just you and me, Netflix."

The boy collapsed on his bed and started flicking through the movies. He stopped on one and read the description. He decided it would be interesting, grabbed a bottle of beer, and pressed play.

_/Line Break\_

Thomas was woken up unpleasantly. He rolled off his bed when he was sleeping.

"Shucking bed that's too small," he grumbled, rubbing his head.

The boy rose up to his feet, scratching his collarbone. But when he touched there, he gasped. It started to burn badly where he had touched it.

Thomas knew what this was. His father had explained it to him. The burning feeling was his mark. It was coming.

He slowly walked to the bathroom. The boy stared at himself through the mirror. He was afraid to take off his shirt. Who did he get. Even though you didn't have to marry your soulmate, the mark still tied you two together. It was their name written on your body until you die. It was there forever.

The brunette took a deep breath. "C'mon, Thomas," he mumbled. "You can do this. It's just a mark."

He toyed with the hem of his shirt. Screw it, he thought, and pulled it over his head.

What he saw made him gasp.

Minho was scrawled down his left collarbone, reaching down to his heart.

And another name crossed it.

"What the hell," Thomas breathed. He traced the letters in the second name. Isaac.

It started from the 'i' in Minho, reaching his left side.

Then a realization hit him.

If Minho meant Minho Park, then his best friend had been keeping this a secret?

"The bastard!" cursed Thomas and ran a hand through his hair. He had been keeping this from him and Newt?

Thomas growled and marched downstairs. He hopped on his bike and started pedaling towards the Asian's house.

The teen abandoned his bike on the front lawn and strides up to Minho's house. He hit the door loudly, knowing his parents were at the firm.

Minho ripped open the door, prepared to tell someone off. Then he saw Thomas. His mouth fell open, and he stared. Then he arched an eyebrow.

"Yes," he asked calmly.

Minho was answered by a punch to the jaw.

The older boy cried out and staggered back, holding his jaw and staring at his best friend.

"You asshole!" yelled Thomas. His blue eyes glared into Minho's very soul.

"What the hell was that for, slinthead?" the other boy snarled.

"You know what the hell that was for!" replied Thomas. "What is this, Minho?"

Thomas pulled down the left collar of his shirt. You could see Minho and Isaac's name written.

"Get in here," hissed the Asian boy once he saw the names. "Anyone can see them out there!"

He roughly grabbed the younger boy and shoved him in his house. Minho slammed the door and turned around.

To receive another punch to the face.

Thomas stared at the other boy, breathing heavily. His blue eyes bore into Minho's.

"Shuckface," said Minho angrily, holding his left cheek.

"You deserve it," spat the brunette. "Keeping this a secret!"

"I had my reasons," defended Minho.

"What reasons?" the younger boy yelled.

"This has never happened before," the older boy yelled back. "What do you think would've happened if anyone found out? WICKED would've come to us."

"We would've kept it a secret!" Thomas defended. "Do you not trust us?"

Minho shook his head. "I don't know, Thomas."

That stopped the brunette in his tracks. He stared at his friend, and realized how much he missed. Minho was alone. He had no one when he got two marks. Not his parents, not his friends, and not his best friends. He was completely alone.

"Hey, Min," the teen said softly. "You're not alone. You have me and Newt."

Minho looked up and the other boy. "I know," he whispered.

Thomas walked up to him and pulled the taller boy into a hug.

"What are we gonna do about Newt?" Thomas asked once he pulled away.

"I don't know," Minho replied. "It might not even be him. Isaac's a common name."

Thomas nodded. "But we aren't distancing ourselves from him. Unlike someone did."

Minho groaned. "You're never gonna let that go are you?"

Thomas shook his head and smirked. Then he grabbed Minho's head and pulled the Asian in for a kiss.

It was chaste and and full of longing. Thomas could've done this forever. He pulled back reluctantly because his lungs were screaming for air.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," he said, breath hot against Minho's face.

The other boy smirked. "Really? I'm just that awesome."

Thomas chucked and punched his companion in the arm.

"Idiot," he murmured affectionately.

Minho hummed. The only thing he needed now was Newt. The boy hoped it was Newt. Together, the three of them could get through this.

Thomas looked at his friends face. "Seven more months, Min. Only seven."

Minho groaned. "Seven months is a long time."

"It'll be worth it," chuckled the brunette.

And Minho knew it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So here's the third chapter. Sorry if everything seemed a bit rushed. Thomas was angry, then pitiful, then loving. Jeez Thomas, choose a feeling and stick with it. Next will be Newt finding out how Thomas and Minho are dating. Minho and Thomas assume it's Newt because in the story, you had to have met your soulmate at least once, and they know no other Isaac's so... Tell me what you think, like, and what I can fix in the reviews. See ya!


	4. Bloody Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 4: Bloody Hell

Newt stared at Thomas and Minho, confused. He had just gotten off the plane from Switzerland. The Brit was giddy about seeing his two best friends again, but he was faced with this?

"You're joking, right?" he questioned the boys in front of him. The had to be. Minho decided to disappear from his and Thomas's life for a month, Newt goes to Switzerland, and this happens while he's gone?

"No," replied Thomas. "We are serious."

Newt watched as the brunette's hand grabbed Minho's. They aren't kidding. They're serious.

"We're together," Minho says, looking at Newt with a worried expression.

The blonde boy swallowed. What the bloody hell happened when he was gone? Did Thomas get Minho's name? Crap. He did. Why else would they have gotten together during Thomas's birthday.

"That's great," he forced out. The lump in his throat grew as he watched them smile at each other.

"I have to go," the Brit said through the lump. "Jet lag is horrible and I need to go unpack."

He all but ran out of Thomas's house, grabbing his bike and leaving quickly.

Thomas and Minho watched him go, their expressions concerned.

"What do you think that was about?" asked Thomas.

Minho cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "He just found out his two best friends are dating. He needs to digest that."

"I think we should tell him," the brunette confessed. "We shouldn't keep this a secret."

"We don't know if it's him," disagreed the other boy.

"Yeah," Thomas said. "But he'd keep it a secret. It's Newt!"

"We can't take any risks," warned the Asian. "The person who discovers our marks could get a lot of money for uncovering us."

Thomas sighed. "Fine. We'll wait till his birthday."

_/Line Break\_

Newt furiously brushed his eyes as he ran to his room. Why the hell was he crying over this? They were meant for each other. They don't need him.

The blonde sat on his bed and placed his head in his hands. He shook it. It's okay. He'll get over the little crushes. It's just some stupid crushes. He'll get his name in seven months.

"Bloody hell," he murmured. "Get over yourself."

Still, his two closest friends were together? It was sudden and weird. After Minho's Marking Day, he started avoiding Newt and Thomas. When he was shot, he wouldn't even let the blonde see the wound! Then Thomas's birthday happens, and they get together while Newt's on vacation.

"Whatever," Newt muttered, walking to his bathroom. He gripped the edge of the sink and splashed water on his face. The blonde boy looked at his reflection. Long blonde hair. Chocolate brown eyes coupled with a square jaw. His eyes were watery and red while his cheeks were blotchy.

"God," he said. "Pull yourself together. "They don't need you. They're perfect for each other."

He huffed at himself. A shower would be nice. A nice, long shower. Then snuggling in his bed. Yeah, that would be awesome.

_/Line Break\_

"Newt!"

Newt snapped his head at the sound of his name. There walking up to him was a dark skinned boy. He had broad shoulders and was very muscled. His hair was cut neatly, and he wore a perfect grin with all whites.

Albert Einstein, or as he likes to be called, Alby. The big boy was a quarterback for their football team, and he was really cool. Even if some of his friends aren't.

"Hey Alby," the Brit greeted, smiling back.

"Um, I was wondering what you were doing after school today?" the quarterback asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Um, nothing," replied Newt. "Just hanging out."

Alby grinned again. "Do ya wanna hang out today? Study session?"

Newt stared surprised. Alby was asking him out? Why? He and the taller boy have never hung out before. Why start now? But it would be good for getting over his two best friends. And he had to admit, Alby was handsome and friendly.

"Okay," he said. "Meet up at my house at five."

The dark skinned boy winked before running back to his football friends. They started slapping him on the back and grinning. Suddenly, the blonde felt sick when he caught sight of one player flinging an arm around Alby and talking to him.

Newt closed his locker and turned around to go to class when he saw two people watching him. Thomas and Minho. They were staring at him with confused eyes that held a little betrayal.

Newt suddenly felt like a rat. Like he was cheating on them. And the bad part was that he didn't even know why! He didn't owe those two anything. He didn't owe them an explanation for agreeing to go out with Alby, so why did he feel like he did?

"I'm paranoid," he muttered as he started walking to class. Great. He had class with Minho now. Just bloody perfect.

He ran into class and sat at the desk just as the bell rang. Newt felt eyes staring at his back, and he turned his head. He quickly snapped it back to the teacher when he saw Minho's dark eyes staring into his.

"Today, we will be doing a project. A partner project," started the teacher, and Newt groaned internally. He wanted to start hitting his forehead against the desk. Did it have to be a partner project?

The teacher started explaining the project, but Newt wasn't listening. He was too busy hitting his head against his hand.

"You'll be choosing your own partners," the teacher finished. "I expect you to choose wisely."

Newt slumped in his desk as everyone got up to find their partners. He turned and saw Minho walking towards him.

"Hey," greeted Minho. His eyebrows knitted as Newt grunted in return. Then his face twisted into something sour.

"It's fine if ya don't wanna work with me," the Asian scowled. "You can go work with your boyfriend." Minho nodded his head towards Alby, who was grinning at Newt.

"What?" exclaimed the Brit. "C'mon Min. We've been friends forever! Of course I wanna work with you."

Minho just grunted in return. Newt sighed before going to the assignment papers. He couldn't wait till the day was over so he could go home. Wait, he was seeing Alby. Well, that's better than being here in this awkward position.

_/Line Break\_

Alby sighed as he walked away from Newt's house. Newt was great. He was funny, cute, smart. But he seemed sort of distant at their study session. Alby shook his head as he walked to his car. Suddenly, an angry person was up in his face.

"What are ya think you're doing with Newt?" questioned a boy with short dark hair and dark eyes. He was tall and muscular. And he looked very angry.

"Nothing," answered Alby, taking a step back. He clenched his fists just in case the guy decided to throw a punch. His eyes examined the other boy. Taller then him and muscular arms and legs. Intelligent dark eyes and a scowl.

"Stay away from him," the Asian threatened. "One of your football buddies made him go into depression when we were younger. And you didn't stop him. I don't want my friend to be hurt again."

Alby let his eyebrows raise. What? Who made Newt go into depression?

"He was calling Newt a fag and saying he was worthless," continued the boy. "It made him try to kill himself! Your buddy left Thomas and I to pick up the pieces. It took us forever to get Newt back to normal. He was left with a limp, and he couldn't ever do what he loved. Run. He used to run with Thomas and I, but now he can't!"

"That wasn't me," defended the dark skinned boy, eyes narrowing. Is that how Newt got the limp? Who did it?

"But you just stood there," yelled the Asian. "You stood there and laughed."

Alby's eyes widened as he was taken back to seventh grade. He remembered the skinny, lanky, boy with long blonde hair and pale skin. His brown eyes were filled with tears as Alby's friends were name calling him.

"His name was Isaac," the quarterback breathed. "Not Newt."

"It's a nickname, idiot," snorted the other boy. His name was Minho! He was the tall Asian boy that was muscular for their age when they were in seventh. He and another skinny boy with ruffled dark hair and moles splattering his skin defended Isaac. No, Newt.

Alby stared at Minho for a second, his face horrified before running into his car and speeding away. Minho watched the car leave before running back to his house, barely breaking a sweat.

"Sup," said Thomas, sprawled across Minho's bed. The taller boy sighed.

"Alby didn't remember what he and his friend did to Newt!" he exploded. "He didn't remember!"

Thomas sat up, his blue eyes narrowing. "What did you do?"

"I told him to stay away," replied Minho.

"What if he tells Newt!" Thomas stressed. "Newt would get angry!"

"He won't," assured Minho. "I'm sure."

Thomas sighed before laying back down. "I want to tell him, Minho."

"We can't, Thomas," said the Asian. "We don't know if it's him."

"I think it is," whispered the brunette. "I can feel it."

"We have to wait," warned his boyfriend.

"Whatever," muttered Thomas before getting up from the bed. "I have to go. Bye."

Minho watched as Thomas walked out of his room and out the front door. Seriously, why couldn't he get a shucking break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So I fitted in Newt's attempted suicide in the story. Alby isn't really bad, he's changed. And Newt looks different from seventh grade so that's why Alby didn't recognize him. And he went by Isaac until eighth. Sorry this chapter was short, I'll try to make the others longer, but I got really tired of writing this chapter. Like, I didn't touch it for a few weeks tired. And I've been going on a Teen Wolf Spree! Derek Hale is awesome. I think after this story is finished, I'll write a Teen Wolf story. I'm babbling, aren't I? Sorry it took so long. Tell me what you think, like, and what I can fix in the reviews. See ya!


	5. Newt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He stared down, tears still falling freely. It would be a far fall. Maybe ten seconds till the bottom. Ten agonizingly long seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 5: Newt

Newt stared at the back of Alby's head, willing the bigger boy to turn and make eye contact.

And it seems that the universe is on his side, but at the same time, it's not. The quarterback turned, and his eyes met Newt's. Then he quickly turned away. Newt sighed and closed his locker. He watched as Alby walked away with his football buddies.

What did he do wrong? Does Alby not like him? Was it awkward when he came over? It didn't seem awkward to him.

"Newt!"

Newt turned just as a brunette turned the corner. He looked around wildly before his eyes landed on Newt. He ran towards the blonde, arms flailing.

"Tommy?" greeted Newt, eyebrows raising in confusion.

"I gotta tell you something," Thomas was fiddling with his fingers, and he wasn't looking Newt in the eye.

"Yeah," said the Brit, making a go on motion. Finally, Thomas's gaze met his. The blue eyes pierced him.

"I need to tell you something. We've been hiding something. Minho and I."

Newt's eyes narrowed. Hiding something? He already knew what they were hiding.

"I already know," he interrupted.

Thomas's eyes widened. "You do?"

"Yeah," the shorter boy nodded. "I've known since your birthday."

Thomas looked down at the floor. "Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"We hid it from you. Why aren't you mad?"

"It's kinda private. I mean, you guys needed to adjust. And Minho hid the fact that he got your name."

"What," the brunette looked bewildered.

"I know you got Minho's name," responded Newt. "It's fine. I know, and I'm not mad."

"Oh!" Thomas's eyes widened. "No, there is something else we have to talk about."

"Tell me, Tommy," said the Brit, rolling his eyes.

"Minho and I. We-" started Thomas before getting abruptly cut off. Cut off by someone kissing him.

Minho had one arm wrapped around Thomas's midsection, and he was holding on tight. His eyes were closed as his lips were locked to the brunette's.

Newt looked away awkwardly. Hey look! Is that a dead spider on that tile? That's so interesting! Hello dead spider!

He finally looked up. They were still kissing. "Ew." The Brit wriggled his nose. "Lower the PDA. We're at school."

They finally broke apart. Thomas was staring into Minho's eyes dreamily, and Newt felt like he had just been punched in the gut. He felt nauseous.

"I've gotta get to class," he mumbled and took off.

Minho waited before he rounded the corner before turning to face Thomas. "What the shuck was that?"

"We need to tell him," hissed Thomas. "I was so close!"

"We aren't going to tell him," reprimanded Minho. "We agreed to wait until his birthday!"

"Why!" Thomas narrowed his eyes at the taller boy. It was a stupid plan.

"It's a lot to spring on him at once!" argued the Asian. "He might think that we're playing a joke on him!"

"We have the marks to prove it," countered Thomas. "We have proof."

"We aren't telling him," Minho stubbornly said, crossing his muscular arms.

"You were lucky this time," Thomas scowled. "Other times you won't be able to stop me."

"Thomas," warned Minho. "We are waiting until his birthday."

"It's a stupid idea," muttered the brunette, fiercely baring his teeth. The Asian bared his teeth back.

"Whatever," Thomas grumbled. "Fine. I won't tell him. Don't think I'm happy about this though."

Minho sighed and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. Thomas basically melted into the embrace.

"I hate it when we fight," mumbled the younger boy against his chest, and Minho chuckled.

"Yes," he smirked. "Two months into the relationship and we're already having major fights."

Thomas punched him the chest. "I really think we should tell him, Min."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Minho shook his head.

"If Newt gets mad, I'm blaming it on you," sighed Thomas, giving in.

"Alright," smiled the older boy. "You can do that."

_/Line Break\_

Newt sat in his room, staring at the white wall. It's been five months since Thomas's birthday, and he's literally going out of his freaking mind. He's the third wheel now. He doesn't have a place among their friendship anymore. He's just the boy who hangs around the couple. They don't need him anymore.

"Nobody wants me," he mumbled. Minho, Thomas, Alby. They've been the ones he'd gotten close to. Now, Minho was dating Thomas, Alby has been avoiding him, and no one else wants him. He's worthless.

He's just that person in the background. He's not an athlete, like Minho and Thomas. He gave that up after his attempted suicide. He wasn't doing that well in school since Minho and Thomas have started dating. He's never been apart of a group. Thomas and Minho had been his group. But now he felt as if he didn't belong. He didn't have anyone.

Then he realized something terrifying.

The familiar pain of loneliness was back; the stabbing, hollow loneliness that are his gut and tore his heart out. He was depressed. Again. And it was because it friends, who always had his back, and made sure he was safe, had left him to wallow in his own pity. And what if they never came back, and they realised they didn't need Newt? He was digging himself into hole he would not be able to climb out of.

"Bloody hell," he said. "You can't do this again. You can't do this to your parents. Not to Minho. Not to Thomas."

But they wouldn't have this problem if Newt wasn't here. Newt was the problem. If they didn't know him, Thomas and Minho could be the popular kids if he hadn't of been holding them back. His parents could be happy because they didn't have to worry about a suicidal kid. All of the problems were his fault.

He unwillingly glanced at the pocket knife on his wooden desk. He stared at it, hands trembling. Why'd he keep the stupid thing?

Then he realized he had walked up to the desk. His hand was still trembling as it reached for the knife against his will. He took out the blade and reflected the sun off it.

Then he was crying. Hot tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn't do this again. He couldn't. It wasn't fair to everyone around him. He ran to the window and frantically opened it before he could change mind. His house was right on the edge of a huge drop. It was because his parents thought it looked beautiful since their balcony was facing it. It was a far drop down. And his room was right next to it.

The blonde climbed out of his window. The wind ruffled his hair, and he looked down. The height was dizzying. There wasn't much space between him and the edge of the roof.

Newt took a deep breath and stepped closer. One more step and he would fall. Fall all the way down to the trees at the bottom. He imagined his body falling, the wind roaring in his ears as his body dropped like a rock. Closing his eyes after a few second. The impact, would it hurt? Or would it all just be over quickly?

He stared down, tears still falling freely. It would be a far fall. Maybe ten seconds till the bottom. Ten agonizingly long seconds.

Then Newt went ahead and did it.

He put his left foot right at the edge, the toe barely sticking off. He raised his right hand and threw it forward.

He threw the knife away from him.

He watched the object get smaller and smaller until he couldn't see it anymore. Then he took steps away from the edge. Towards safety.

He climbed off the roof and shut it tightly. He couldn't find the knife again. And he refused to buy one again. He wasn't going to do this to his parents. They didn't deserve it.

He looked at his alarm clock. 6:24. It couldn't hurt to get a little extra sleep, could it? The Brit climbed into the safety of his bed, pulling the blankets up to his neck. _Safety_. That's what he repeated in his mind like a mantra until he fell asleep.

_/Line Break\_

One more month until Newt's birthday. Until then, Minho and Thomas would have to keep threatening possible suitors to Newt. People like Alby. They definitely scared him away. Newt should have other friends. Friends that weren't Minho and Thomas. But the Asian was damn possessive. It was kinda hot.

"Hey," Minho's dark gaze cut into his. "He has other friends. Frypan, Chuck, Jeff, Winston. It's not just us."

"Did you read my mind?" teased the brunette. "That's what I was thinking."

"Maybe," Minho smirked mischievously. "I'm a mind reader!"

"In your dreams," snorted Thomas.

"Hey!" the taller boy replied indignantly. "And in real life! I just proved it!"

"I just feel bad about chasing off people interested in Newt," confessed Thomas. "What if he feels undesired?"

"Trust me," assured the Asian. "Once he's ours, he'll feel desired every day."

"He better!" Thomas mock threatened.

Minho sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Have you noticed he's been avoiding us lately?"

"He's spending time with his other friends," reminded the smaller boy. "Remember, we aren't his only friends."

"It's just been us three for so long," defended Minho. "I'm not used to it."

"Well, he might feel like a third wheel," shrugged Thomas. "We are together right now."

"Fair enough," Minho smirked dryly. "I can't wait till his birthday passes."

"Me either, Min," Thomas said, gazing at the blonde. "Me either."

_/Line Break\_

Newt was laying in bed, eyes staring at the dark ceiling. He couldn't go to sleep. He was filled with nervous energy. The blonde's long, slim fingers tapped against his stomach.

Then he heard it.

The clock beeped, signaling it was 12:00. It was the day he had both been waiting for and dreading. Newt held his breath for a few seconds before exhaling harshly.

It was his birthday.

More importantly, it was his Marking Day.

He was going to be marked today. He was going to get a name etched permanently on his body forever. He would get his soulmate's name.

Yeah, Newt knew that your soulmate wasn't The One. Well, they kinda were, but at the same time, they weren't. But on the inside, Newt was a hopeless romantic. He dreamt of getting a name, starting the relationship, and getting married. Getting a happily ever after basically. Just like his mom and dad. They were still in love as when they had first met. They were one of the lucky ones. They had met when they were seventeen. Got together because they felt a pull. Said they didn't care about the marks, they loved each other. But then they got each other's name. And they lived happily ever after.

Newt wanted that. He wanted the whole courting process, the soft smiles, the hugs and kisses, the proposal, the marriage, and growing old together. It sounded perfect. And his birthday might help him.

The Brit felt his eyes droop. Wow, he got really tired all of a sudden. He was nodding off.

The last thought he had was Thomas and Minho. Strange.

_/Line Break\_

"Hi, mom. Hi, da-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Newt stared at everyone in his living room. This was unexpected. He didn't remember this many people living in his house last time he checked.

His mom and dad stood a couple of feet in front of Newt. They were smiling at him, then hugging him. Everyone else had been behind the couch.

Minho, Thomas, Chuck, Jeff, and Winston were wearing big grins on their face. Some were maniacal. Like Minho's.

Both of them looked so gorgeous today, and it made Newt's chest physically hurt. His life officially sucked.

Minho was wearing a black short sleeve shirt that hugged his muscular frame and loose Nike running shorts. Leave it to Minho to wear a short sleeve shirt and shorts during March. His dark eyes looked just as intimidating as ever. It was very captivating.

Thomas, on the other hand, looked so charming. His dark brown hair was ruffled, and his piercing blue eyes held a childish giddiness. He wore a dark blue dress shirt that made his eyes pop, and he wore black jeans. His mouth was twisted into a mischievous smirk.

"I don't remember this many people living in our house?" Newt said, stunned.

"It's a surprise party, doofus," chuckled Thomas, going up to hug him. Newt looked absolutely adorable. His hair was sticking up, and he was wearing blue flannel pajamas. There was a little bit of drool on the corner of his mouth, and he still had droopy eyes. Morning Newt was adorable.

"It is your Marking Day." Minho hugs him after Thomas reluctantly lets go. When the Asian pulls back, there's something weird in his expression.

"You guys didn't have to do this," Newt smiled softly.

"Hey!" Chuck comes up from behind the couch. "Are we chopped liver? Where's our credit?"

Newt laughed heartily, and his best friends thought it was very refreshing to see. They haven't seen the blonde boy smile for a while now. They missed it a lot.

"Aw," the Brit grinned. "C'mere." He wrapped the small boy into a hug.

Newt gave a hug to everyone around him. His face was glowing. He needed this reminder that people actually cared about him.

"And," started Thomas, holding up a wrapped box and shaking it. "We brought presents!"

One by one, everyone brought up their own presents. One was bigger than Newt!

"Who brought that?" laughed the blonde, pointing at the huge box.

"We did," smirked Minho. He joined hands with Thomas. Newt felt a pang in his chest, but pushed it down viciously.

"You guys already got me something," said Newt, looking at the ground shyly.

"Well, we got you another present," shrugged Thomas. What his blonde friend didn't know was that they got it just in case Newt was mad after the marks came. If, of course, he was the third person.

"You didn't have to," smiled the smaller boy softly.

"Enough," interrupted his parents. They were smiling at their only son, their arms wrapped around each other's waist.

"Come eat the doughnuts we got you," said his father. "We got your favorite!"

"Glazed?" Newt asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yup!" Newt's mouth was already watering. He was starving! Don't judge.

Everyone else cheered and started running to the kitchen. His parents followed the running kids. Newt turned around and saw that Minho and Thomas stayed back.

"Thanks," he whispered and hugged both of them. "This was really nice."

"Anything for you," Thomas answered truthfully. Minho just grunted and squeezed.

_/Line Break\_

Everyone was in the living room, arguing about a movie to put in. Newt just looked upon the squabble fondly. His parents had gone upstairs, saying that he and his friends could hang out without them hanging around.

"Guys," interrupted Minho. He held up a movie disc. "I bought this. It's a movie that just came out." The title read The Maze Runner.

"Okay," shrugged Chuck, hopping on the couch. One by one, everyone else started to say yes. Minho smiled victoriously and put it in.

Newt kept scratching his left collarbone. It kept bothering him for some reason. Did a mosquito get in the house again? It was really itchy.

"I need to get something from my room," he announced, standing up. Minho and Thomas's head whipped around to look at him. They had an odd expression on their faces.

"Okay," said Frypan, not taking his eyes off the screen. The movie was becoming action packed. "Hurry, you're gonna miss the good part."

The blonde walked upstairs. His shoulder wouldn't stop bothering him. What the bloody hell was wrong?

Just as he placed his hands on the hem of his shirt, the itching sensation turned burning. He gasped quietly as the pain turned agonizing.

Then it suddenly stopped. It just stopped. No itching, no burning, nothing. What the bloody hell happened? Was it his marking? Oh god, it was. Who did he get?

The Brit toyed with his shirt, his teeth snagging his bottom lip. His breaths started coming shorter and faster. The walls started to move.

No, this couldn't be happening! He couldn't be having a panic attack right now. He slammed into the wall, sliding down to the floor. He couldn't breathe. His vision was going tunneled.

"Newt?" It was Minho's voice outside the door. "You okay? You've been gone for a while."

Newt tried to answer, but he couldn't. Small gasps came out instead. The edges of his vision were going dark.

"Newt?" Minho pounded on the door. "Are you okay?"

Thomas shoved the Asian out of the way. "Idiot," he muttered as he opened the door. Minho was never good under stress.

Newt was sitting on the floor, gasping for breath. Thomas immediately knelt next to him. Not to close. Minho came in and stood, his expression worried. Thomas wanted to reach out to his friend, but held back. You shouldn't touch someone during a panic attack.

"Shh," he whispered instead. "It's okay, Newt. You're safe. You're inside your house, it's your eighteenth birthday. You aren't in danger."

He did some research when Newt had a panic attack. You needed to remind them where they are. To reassure them that they were safe. Everything was fine.

Slowly, Newt's breath started to slow. He sucked in deep breaths. Then he looked at Thomas.

"Thanks," he whispered, chocolate eyes showing emotion.

"Hey, we're always gonna be here for you," reminded the brunette. Minho nodded from behind him.

Newt stood up. His legs were shaky as he held the wall. He slowly walked to the mirror. Then he suddenly took off his shirt.

Thomas's eyes widened as Minho's mouth fell open. Newt payed no attention to this as he looked at his left shoulder.

He traced the name, no, names on his collarbone and chest. The name Minho started from the edge of his collarbone and curved to his heart.

The 'h' in his name attached to another name. Thomas's.

He gazed in the mirror, almost as if he was transfixed.

"Newt," Thomas said softly, taking a step towards the blonde.

Then Newt turned. His expression was void of any emotion. Then Thomas felt a searing pain across his face.

He stumbled back, and Minho caught him. Now he knows how the Asian felt when Thomas punched him. It shucking hurt!

Newt was breathing heavily. His right hand was curled in a fist, and his eyes were on fire. The boy marched up to Minho and punched him across the face. Hard.

Minho's back hit the wall from the force of the hit. His hand shot up to cradle his jaw. Ugh, the third time since his birthday. Not including the gang.

"What the bloody hell is this," Newt's voice was deadly quiet. He pointed to the names on his body.

"Newt," pleaded Thomas. "We're so-"

"Shut up, Thomas!" the blonde boy exploded. "I don't want your apology! I want answers."

"It's your soul mark," growled Minho, jaw still aching. Newt's glare switched to him.

"Gee, I didn't know that!" Newt said sarcastically.

"You asked what it is," snarked the Asian. "I simply told you the answer."

"Why'd you keep this from me?" the blonde's voice held pain.

"We didn't want to spring this upon you all at once," replied Minho.

"It was all him," Thomas pointed at his boyfriend. The taller boy narrowed his eyes at the younger boy.

"You said I could blame it on you," shrugged the brunette.

"I didn't think you actually would," defended Minho.

"I just did," Thomas said nonchalantly.

"Traitor," muttered Minho, scowling.

And Newt started to laugh. He actually laughed. It was better then crying in front of them. A lot better.

"Did you guys not trust me?" he asked, wearing his pain on his sleeve.

Minho's face showed equally as much pain. That wasn't fair! Newt was the one who should have the most pain. He was the one they hid this from. They weren't allowed to show as much pain as him.

"Anyone could get a lot of money for exposing us," he said quietly, adverting his eyes. The Brit's widened in shock.

"You guys actually thought that I would sell you out?" he asked, his voice showing all the disgust he could muster.

"No," answered the brunette. "Minho did."

"You're such a traitor," muttered Minho. "What did I do to you?"

"You made me go along with your ridiculous plan," sighed Thomas. "I said we should've told him before his birthday. Well, look where that got us!"

"That's what you were trying to tell me that day in school," Newt breathed, his mind going back a few months ago. "But Minho interrupted."

"Yeah," muttered Thomas. "I should've told you a different time."

"And the markings were why Minho started avoiding us," Newt said, light coming to a bunch of situations. "And that's why he wouldn't let me look at his wound. And why you guys got together all of a sudden."

"Since we're coming clean about a bunch of things," interrupted Minho. "Thomas and I have been scaring off possible suitors for you. I scared off Alby."

And Newt was angry again. "You did what?"

"It was Minho!" blurted out the brunette, looking like a kicked puppy. His blue eyes were wide, and the blonde resisted the urge to coo at him.

"Oh my god," sighed the Asian, glaring at his boyfriend. "What did I do to you to deserve this?"

"You did say that I could blame it on you," reminded the little traitor, grinning.

"Not for everything," Minho scowled and rolled his eyes.

"Newt, we're really sorry," apologized Thomas, eyes pleading with the Brit. Damn it! He knew Newt couldn't resist the puppy eyes!

"Screw you, Tommy," groaned Newt, glaring at the little deceiver. He was being a lot of things tonight.

"Aw," grinned the brunette. "Since you asked so nicely..."

His friend rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot and a perv."

"I know!" was the cheerful answer. Why was he happy about that again?

"He's your idiotic perv though," said Minho, smirking.

"And you're an outrageous jerk," snarked the youngest boy, poking him in the chest. "Thinking that hiding this from me would be a good idea."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," the other boy shrugged, face unapologetic. The nerve!

"You have no empathy," Newt pouted and crossed his arms. "Maybe I'll just have Tommy as my boyfriend. At least he's sweet and charming."

Thomas's face lit up at that. Minho rolled his dark eyes for the fiftieth time today. One of these days, they're gonna get stuck there.

"Hey," he countered. "Thomas is my boyfriend. And I don't have to be cute and charming. I'm too sexy."

"Maybe I'll get Tommy to break up with you," threatened the Brit. "I'm much more awesome."

Thomas looked torn. "Aw, don't make me choose between you two! I can't! Newt is so adorable, but Minho, it's unfair how sexy you are."

The other two boys laughed. Thomas's face was priceless. He was like a child who had to choose between cake and ice cream.

"You know what? I'll keep both of you," he declared after a few seconds. "That way, I don't have to choose!"

"That's fine with me," shrugged the oldest boy. He stared at Newt. "Newt?"

The blonde sucked in a breath. They were asking permission. They were asking if he would be theirs. A few hours ago, he would've jumped at the opportunity. But now...

"I don't know," he honestly answered. Both of the boy's faces fell. "You guys hid this from me."

"I hid this from Thomas," reasoned Minho. "He forgave me. So can you, I know you can." His voice was pleading.

"It's not that though," the youngest boy said. "It's the fact that you guys didn't trust me. You thought I could've turned you in."

Minho looked down, ashamed. Thomas turned wide, apologetic eyes at his friend. Damn you, Thomas. He's doing that on purpose!

"That really put a strain on our relationship," continued Newt. "So did Minho disappearing, and not letting me see the wound. You guys getting together all of a sudden. That's hard to fix."

"But we can fix our relationship," the Asian said confidently, eyes showing determination. "I'll fix it. This is all my fault."

"It isn't all your fault," Thomas says, touching his bicep.

"You said it was my fault not even five minutes ago!" snorted Minho, rolling his eyes. Again. That has to be unhealthy how many times he does that!

"Oh yeah," responded his boyfriend, looking thoughtfully at the wall. "I did, didn't I."

"You're an idiot," muttered Minho affectionately.

"Hey!" replied the smaller boy in indignation. "You forgot to say I'm a perv. I'm an idiotic perv!"

Newt chuckled. Thomas was so childish sometimes. It was amazing. The things he did and said...

"Will you be ours, Newt?" asked the brunette. Bloody hell, what a sap. Seems like Newt had a thing for saps. Childish, charming, brunette saps. And sexy, intelligent, muscular Asians. Huh, Newt was Thomas-sexual. And Minho-sexual. Shuck it.

"We'll see," Newt said. The blinding smiles he got were brighter than the sun. They were too happy that he was giving them another chance. And the blonde was going to be so smitten with them. Well, even more smitten.

They all walked down the stairs. The movie was playing the credits. Half of them were asleep, the other half were on the verge.

"Where were you?" demanded Chuck. "You were gone for hours! You missed the best parts!"

Newt just laughed. "You want me to play the movie again?"

"That was an awesome movie!" declared the young boy. "Play it again!"

Minho laughed loudly and rewinded it. He sat on the edge of the couch, Newt sitting next to him. Thomas squeezed between the blonde and Chuck. The Asian wrapped an arm around Newt's waist while Thomas rested his head on the blonde's shoulder. Newt sighed happily. This was the most peace he's had in years. And he loved it.

The Brit thought about the two boys he's liked for a few years now. And he realized that they were his. He knew that they would wait for him. And Newt wouldn't make them wait for very long. Not long at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This was definitely a really fun chapter to write. Did anyone think Newt was gonna jump? That was my intention. I would never do that though. This feels like an ending note, doesn't it? IT'S NOT!! Unless you want it to be. Stop right here if you wanna happy ending and want to be finished with this story! Next chapter will be fluffy moments between our boys. Then WICKED will come. Tell me what you think, like, and what I can fix in the reviews. See ya!


	6. Fluff Overload

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 6: Fluff Overload

Newt stood in the stands, cheering on his boyfriends. They were on the track, getting ready to run. Minho was about to go, and he pulled Thomas into a passionate kiss.

The blonde felt a pang in his chest. He used to be right next to them, stretching and joking around. Until his depression. He screwed up. Badly.

Newt shook his head. No use in dwelling in the past. It already happened. Nothing he did could change that. It was useless thinking of it. All it did was make him angry and sad.

He watched as Minho got on the track. "Go Min!" he cheered. The Asian was getting into his lane for the 400 meter dash.

The Asian smirked at his boyfriend and blew him a kiss. Newt blushed. The threesome hadn't really made them official. Their close friends knew that the three were dating, and so did their parents, but they hadn't really made it a point that they were together.

Everyone stared at him. They must be thinking that he didn't see the kiss between Minho and Thomas. Threesomes were rare since the marks only gave you one name. Until Minho, Thomas, and Newt. So nobody really assumed that they were a threesome. They must've thought something like Minho was flirting, cheating, or teasing.

Everyone held their breath in anticipation as the gun was raised. Runners got into position. The tension was thick. This was Minho's last race in high school, and Newt desperately wanted the muscled teen to win. It was only fair since he was running track since middle school. He deserved to win his last race before school ended. Before they went to collage.

The gun shot off, and everyone bolted. Minho was running as fast as he could, and Newt was praying in his mind. He could do it. He was one of the fastest people on the team.

Newt watched with worried eyes. Minho was pulling ahead most of the other runners, but one boy was equal to him. They were rounding the bend, close to the end. The blonde held his breath as they started the final straight. Both boys were equal to each other. Halfway through the straight, Minho took off. He started getting ahead just as they passed the finish line. He ran across it, and started slowing down.

"Yeah!" Newt yelled, grin apparent on his face. He won. Everyone was cheering around him. Minho was smirking and turned to the crowd. They hooted and cheered louder. Then the Asian winked at his British boyfriend.

Thomas was up next. He was doing a 200 meter dash. He waved and grinned at Newt before getting into starting position. Newt smiled and waved back. The gun shot, and Thomas took off.

"You know they're using you, right?"

Newt turned and saw another senior glaring at him. And he suddenly felt sick. Memories rushed back to him, and he felt like throwing up. Why him? It was always him.

Standing across from him was a tall boy with olive skin wrapped around very defined muscles. Dark hair was swept to the side and celery green eyes. Sharp cheekbones coupled with a wicked smirk.

"What do you want, James?" sighed Newt, frowning. This was the kid who bullied him in seventh grade. Now he was back and saying Newt was a third wheel in his relationship?

James Pomeroy shrugged. "I'm just saying the truth. When they get tired of you, they're gonna leave you. Everyone knows that Minho and Thomas got each other. I dunno why they'd want you in their relationship. Maybe you're a good lay?"

Newt bared his teeth. "I don't know what you're talking about. Thomas and Minho would never leave me."

"You know it'll happen sometime," smirked the olive skinned boy. "They're gonna leave you because you're just dragging them down."

Newt felt tears starting in the corner of his eyes. Bloody hell, why was he crying over this. It was seventh grade all over. Damn it! He knew Min and Tommy loved him. Whatever James said didn't change it.

"Not only are you a fag," continued Pomeroy, grinning widely. "But you're a fag who likes more than one person at once, and to top it off, they're your best friends! Your best friends who got each other while you're a third wheel."

Newt shook his head wildly. He vaguely registered the cheers around him, too caught up in James's words. "You're wrong."

"Am I," asked the dark haired boy. "I don't think I am. Face the facts, Isaac."

Newt cringed as he heard his real name. It wasn't true, he repeated. They loved him. He wasn't a third wheel.

"Newt?"

Minho walked up to his younger boyfriend, who had a look of utter devastation painted on his face. "You okay? The match is over."

The Brit didn't answer, and Minho turned his head to look where his lover was looking. Then his hold tightened. It was him. The bastard who made Newt go into depression.

"What did you do?!" he sneered at James. "Whatever you told him, it isn't true."

"I was just telling him some truths that he wasn't ready to hear," shrugged James, a bored expression on his face.

"Like," barked the Asian, scowl becoming more apparent. God, he wished he could've killed the boy.

"How you two are gonna leave him sometime soon," the senior answered. "He's just a third wheel to you guys."

"That's not true," Thomas spoke up. He had walked over here when he noticed his Asian boyfriend yelling at a bigger boy. "I love Newt just as much as I love Minho. He completes us."

"You're wrong," answered Pomeroy, sneering. "He isn't your soulmate."

"So?" asked Minho, disbelieving. "That doesn't change anything!"

"He's just a good fuck for you two," James said. "That's the only reason why you're still with him. He's good in bed."

Suddenly, the boy was sprawled on the ground, nose leaking crimson. Thomas stood over him, expression dark. Minho was whispering soothing things in Newt's ear and rubbing patterns on his back. The smaller boy was wrapped in the Asian's strong arms.

"You're wrong!" declared the angry brunette. "We love him because of his personality. Not because he's a good lay."

"He's a slut," spat James, getting up. "Doing two guys at once. Two guys who are soulmates."

Minho let out a cry of rage and punched James in the stomach. The other boy doubled over and the Asian kneed him in the face. The olive skinned boy fell to the ground, groaning loudly. Luckily, most of the people had left, or they'd be in big trouble.

"He's not a slut!" growled the Asian. "Say it again, and I'll castrate you!"

"You'll regret this!" threatened James, heaving himself off the ground and holding his nose. Minho snarled and raised a fist, about to punch him again.

"Min," Newt croaked. "Don't."

Minho turned around, fist still raised. "He disrespected you! And threatened us!"

"Please don't," pleaded the blonde. "He's not worth it. If you hit him, you're proving that he's worth enough to engage in a fight. He's not."

Minho heaved in a breath. His eyes darted to James, who was sneering. He wanted so badly to pummel the kid, but his lover was first priority. He exhaled harshly before turning his back to Pomeroy.

He heard some thumps behind him, and whipped around just as James threw a punch at the Asian's face. Minho ducked before punching the bigger boy in the groin.

James squeaked as his hands flew to the injured place. He fell to his knees, squeaking in pain. Minho turned and glowered at the football jock, scowling.

"Try that again, and I won't be as lenient," threatened Minho. All he got in return was a squeak. Served him right. If Newt weren't here, the Asian would've already knocked Pomeroy out. The jock was lucky.

"C'mon," gestured Thomas. "Let's go back to my house and watch a movie.

"And snuggling," piped up Newt.

"Of course," chuckled Minho, wrapping an arm around the blonde. "Let's go."

James lifted his head, face murderous. He was tempted to run and attack them, but he knew he couldn't beat them right now. He had to be patient. No one embarrassed him and got away with it. No one. He'd get them back. The asshole Asian's jersey was loose. Very loose. While the naive brunette was comforting the little slut, he saw something. Minho's jersey had been pushed to one side when he punched James. And the jock saw something on his left shoulder. The other three didn't notice, but he saw two names on Minho's shoulder when he got back up. _Thomas and Isaac._

_/Line Break\_

"Make me something to eat!"

Minho was sprawled across the couch, a lazy expression on his face. Summer was finally here, and the Asian was taking advantage of it. The threesome was currently at Newt's house.

Newt cocked an eyebrow. "Why can't you do it, my lazy boyfriend?"

Minho grinned broadly at that. He never got tired of saying or hearing that. Boyfriends. They were official. They could get through this.

"Because," he started, nose scrunching up. "I'm too lazy to get up. So you and Thomas can make me cookies."

"Any specific cookie in mind, your majesty?" teased the blonde.

Minho pretended to think, his eyebrows furrowing. "Hmm. I'm in the mood for chocolate chip."

"Your wish is my command," bowed Newt. "I just have to wait till Tommy comes back with the groceries."

Speak of the devil, mused Minho with a smirk. He heard the front door close, then some thuds. He dragged himself off the couch to help his lover with the bags.

"How many things did you buy?" the Asian asked incredulously, eyes roaming over the many bags that Thomas had brought in.

"Enough to last you two a couple weeks," responded Thomas, chuckling. "You guys can eat so much, it's crazy."

Minho laughed and helped the brunette out. They carried the bags into the kitchen, and Newt raised an eyebrow at all the stuff.

"Get enough, Tommy?" he asked. Thomas's cheeks dusted red and he punched Newt in the arm.

"Shut up," he scowled. "I'm the one that makes you dinner since you always burn it, and Minho gets salt and sugar mixed up."

"That was one time!" defended the Asian.

"Twice," reminded Thomas. "You got the sugar mixed up with salt for the sugar cookies, which was a terrible experience. And then once I trusted you to measure salt for the pasta sauce, you somehow got the sugar!"

Said person blushed sheepishly. "Only twice," he weakly defended.

"Twice is enough," muttered Thomas. "Especially because of the taste. I'm never trusting you with cooking again."

"Okay," interrupted Newt, laughing a bit. "So Min and I can't cook. That's why we have you! Your cooking is delicious!"

"You only say that because I feed you," responded the brunette, a light blush settling on his face. "Imagine what would happen if I didn't feed you."

"We would starve," answered Minho. "Then you'd live a life without us! That's terrible!"

"Ha!" cried Thomas triumphantly. "Now I can say I won't feed you if you guys are being bad."

Minho collapsed on the couch again. "Cookies!" he moaned, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Idiot," snorted Thomas, digging around the plastic bags. After a few seconds, he held a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough in his hand. "Ah ha!"

"Fooooooooood!" the Asian said, delighted. "Cookies!"

"I'll help you, Tommy," laughed Newt. "Since Min probably will get sugar and salt mixed up."

"One time!"

"Twice," his two lovers chimed, grinning.

_/Line Break\_

"It's soooooooo hot!"

Thomas collapsed on a bench, sweat beading from his forehead. His skin had a red tint, and the brunette was panting over dramatically.

"How many degrees?" Minho asked weakly, putting the back of his hand to his forehead. He was licking his ice cream like his life depended on it.

Newt got out his phone. "101 degrees." He took a bite of the cone, sighing.

"Too hot for me," moaned Thomas, closing his eyes and fake sobbing. His ice cream cone was long gone, the brunette devoured it.

Minho sighed loudly. "Newt, help meeeeeee!"

"I'm sorry, Min," apologized Newt. "I can't help. I wish we could go to the pool but..."

An icy atmosphere set in the air. Nobody knew about their marks. Not even their parents. They couldn't go to the pool in the middle of a freaking hot summer because of their stupid marks. Newt hated the marks sometimes. But at the same time, he loved them because that's what got the threesome together. If only two soul marks were heard of.

"Let's go to my house," suggested Thomas, trying to lighten the mood. "There's air conditioning now. I'm pretty sure dad fixed it."

Minho heaved himself off the bench with a groan. Ugh, summer sucked. Fall was more of his thing. The season was in the middle, but more on the colder side. Perfect for running.

"And I bought ice cream," bribed the brunette. That got the other two moving faster. They hopped on their bikes and started pedaling to the house. But the time they reached the house, all three boys were sweating profoundly. Their clothes were soaked, and faces red. The threesome abandoned their bikes on the lawn and ran inside.

Minho collapsed on the tile and pressed his heated skin against the cool surface. He moaned as he felt the air conditioning.

Thomas came in next, and it felt like he hit a wall of cold air. It was heavenly. He walked slowly to an air vent and just stood on it, enjoying the cold air.

Newt chuckled at his two red faces boyfriends. He shut the door quickly as to not let any more cold air out and went to the couch before collapsing on it. Why were they even outside in the first place?

"I love you so much, Thomas," moaned Minho, his eyes closed. "Your house is so cold."

Both his boyfriends chuckled in response. The Asian looked like he was about to die. His eyes were closed in bliss, and the dark red shirt he had on was soaked through. Thomas wrinkled his nose as he looked down at his own clothes. Gross.

"We need showers," muttered Newt, saying what Thomas was thinking.

Minho's head shot up, smirk painted across his lips. His dark eyes were glittering with mischief. "Yeah. We do need showers."

Newt cocked an eyebrow, knowing the Asian well enough to know that he's planning something. "Min?"

"How many showers do you have, Thomas?" Minho asked instead, ignoring the blonde's question. Thomas grunted in confusion.

"Uh, two?" he answered uncertainly. "But my dad's is off limits. He's sick."

"Ah, so we only have one shower," observed Minho, big grin spreading across his face. "And we all need to shower."

Newt smirked, catching on to the drift. "And we can't waste hot water now, can we."

Minho almost laughed. Newt was insecure and shy about their relationship at first, but once he got comfortable, he was the dirtiest thing on the planet. While Thomas was so oblivious, it was cute.

"If there was an alternative, no," Thomas replied, even more confused now. His eyebrows were furrowed together as his blue eyes showed confusion.

Newt just silently pulled off his shirt, and the cloth covering his pale skin came off. Thomas's mouth instantly dried as he stared at his now shirtless blonde boyfriend.

Minho's hands found the hem of his shirt, and he gripped it before slowly taking off his shirt. His two boyfriends were mesmerized as Minho revealed every inch of his muscular, olive skin. He threw it in the direction of the couch before smirking at Thomas, knowing the brunette loved it when he smirked.

Thomas was gripping Minho's hips in an instant, pupils blown wide. There was a small ring of blue surrounding black. He growled before attacking Minho's lips, biting the bottom one. The Asian opened his mouth and fought for dominance.

"Hmm, someone's exited," chuckled Newt, circling them like a predator about to devour it's prey. The blonde knew what he wanted and got it, and he wanted those two right now.

Thomas turned, his eyes filled with lust. His eyes darted to Newt's left shoulder before sucking and licking there vigorously. Newt closed his eyes in bliss.

"Hey you two," teased Minho. "We still have to shower."

Newt reluctantly pulled back from the kiss before smirking teasingly and walking to the stairs, swaying his hips. Thomas's jaw dropped to the floor. He ran up after Newt, and Minho smiled softly as he heard a big thump from upstairs.

"Idiots," he murmured before walking up the steps, ready to join the fun.

_/Line Break\_

Thomas held the phone up to his ear, mouth curving into a frown. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, Thomas," his dad's voice came on the other end. "I know we were gonna go out to eat together tonight, but I have a night shift now."

"It's fine," Thomas replied, voice cracking a little. "I understand."

"Thanks, buddy," Mr. Edison's voice was soft. There was a brief silence. "I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you too," sighed the boy as the line went dead. He knew his dad was working hard to support both of them, but he felt like he was drifting away from his dad. The brunette was really looking forward to the dinner between the two of them.

He got out his phone and dialed a number. The boy breathed in deeply as it started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Minho," exhaled Thomas, his boyfriend's voice bringing a smile to his lips. "Are you free tonight?"

"Yeah," the Asian replied. "What's wrong? You sound upset."

"I'm fine," lied Thomas. There was a pause from the other boy.

"Okay," Minho responded, sounding suspicious. "Come on over. You want Newt too?"

Thomas smiled. The Asian knew exactly what the brunette wanted. "Yeah, that would be great."

"Okay," Minho said slowly. "Aww you in a few."

The line went dead and Thomas breathed in deeply before getting his bike from the garage. He was saving for a car, since they only had one, but he's stuck with his faithful bike right now.

When Thomas got there, Newt was already there. The blonde engulfed his boyfriend in a hug, mumbling in his chest.

Minho frowned. "What's wrong?" He noticed the slightly red eyes and the hitches in his breath here and there.

"Nothing," answered Thomas. "Dad just couldn't make it to dinner. We had been planning this for weeks."

He broke off, breathing deeply. Minho knew that family and friends meant everything to Thomas, so this must've hurt. Hurt enough to make some tears come, even though Thomas tried to hide them. The brunette wanted to be strong. No one could see his weakness.

"How about we cuddle on Minho's couch and watch a movie?" suggested Newt.

Minho nodded. "We can watch Harry Potter. I know you've never seen the last one, and Newt thinks it's a sin. You have to see it to be his boyfriend."

Thomas laughed, eyes lighting up. "Okay. Have you guys eaten yet?"

The two boys shared a look. Thomas groaned loudly, pointing an accusing finger at them.

"We were gonna order take-out," shrugged Minho, and Newt groaned this time.

"I thought we weren't gonna say anything," the Brit hissed. "You know Thomas hates it when we order take-out. He says it's unhealthy."

The brunette rolled his eyes. "Yeah, when you order it every night. Minho's muscle will go away, and your lean figure will turn flabby."

Minho gasped and held a hand over his heart. "What? Eating take-out makes my muscle go away?"

Thomas chuckled at the fake dumbstruck expression. "I'll let you order it just this one night, if it's Chinese."

"Deal," Minho and Newt said at once. Take the take-out chance when they got it!

Newt collapsed on the couch and looked at them expectantly. "You coming?"

The other two wasted no time. Minho sat on Newt's right side and set his arm behind the blonde's head. Thomas sat down on the other side and tangled his legs with Newt's. The brunette planted a kiss on the smaller boy's cheek.

Minho ordered from their favorite restaurant, knowing exactly what the other two wanted. The three boys just sat there for a few moments before Minho broke the silence. "Is anyone gonna put the movie in?"

His boyfriends turned their heads to stare at him with big eyes. Shit, puppy eyes. He got up, grumbling about being lucky he loved those two so much. After inserting the movie, he flopped back on the couch, getting comfy. That was when the doorbell decided to ring.

"Min," asked Newt sweetly, working the chocolate brown eyes to his favor. "Thomas and I are unable too get up because our legs are tangled. Can you do it?"

Minho stared. "Why? I just put the movie in."

"Which means you're not that comfortable," deflected Thomas. "We're the most comfortable we can get."

The Asian huffed. "Fine. But I'm paying with your money."

He grabbed their wallets on the coffee table, and that's when the two started protesting. He smirked. "Sorry, I gotta go pay for the food and tip the guy. Be right back, then we can talk."

He thanked the guy and handed him a nice big tip from Thomas's wallet, smirking as the delivery guy's eyes widened in surprise. He said thanks and dashed away, probably scared that Minho might take it back.

When he went back to the delivery room, both his boyfriends were up and glaring. He smirked before walking to his kitchen and grabbing some silverware and plates. When he walked back with the equipment in hand, he found his two lovers grumbling and still glaring holes into his forehead. The gazes followed him to where he sat on the couch. They stood still in stony silence.

"What?" Minho asked innocently. "Are you not gonna eat, cuz I can eat all this."

"You're lucky I love you," grumbled Newt, walking to sit beside the Asian. Thomas grunted in agreement before sitting on the other side.

They dug in while watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. As soon as a certain blonde came on, Newt's eyes were glued to the screen.

"I always thought Draco Malfoy was hot," Newt said distractedly. Thomas snorted.

"Really?" he asked. "I'm more of a Harry Potter guy. I wanna be just like him. Liked, courageous, loving, caring, leader."

"Figures Newt goes for the bad boy while you want to be the golden hero," smirked Minho. "I mean, you're always trying to be the hero, while Newt's an angel so he's intrigued with Malfoy."

Minho had noticed that Thomas hadn't specifically said that he had any attraction towards Daniel Radcliffe. He suspected that it was more like Harry was his idol instead of a crush.

Newt blushed. "Well, who are infatuated with, Mr. Perfection?"

Minho screwed his face up. "Well, I always thought Neville's transformation was amazing, but Hermione takes first place. She is gorgeous."

Both of his boyfriends stopped eating to stare at the Asian, who was oblivious to the open jaws. His eyes were fixed on the screen.

"What?" asked Newt indignantly, his eyes glittering with surprise. Thomas flailed around, which looked adorable.

"Did you say Hermione Granger? Like, Emma Watson's Hermione Granger?"

Minho frowned. "Yeah. Why?"

"But-but..." Thomas sputtered. "You like girls?"

"Yeah," Minho answered, raising an eyebrow. "I'm bi."

"The reason we're so surprised is because you've never shown any interest in girls," reasoned Newt, surprise written on his face. "You've had a few flings, but they were all guys."

"We've never had this talk?" laughed the older boy. "Fine, lets start. I am bi."

Newt knitted his eyebrows together. "Um, I'm pretty sure I'm just gay..."

Thomas made a small noise in the back of his throat, which caused the other two to turn and look at him expectantly. "Well?"

Thomas blushed brightly. "Well, I...I'm demi-sexual."

The brunette was fiddling with his hands nervously as the other two made confused faces. All three were silent for a few seconds.

"What's that?" Newt finally ventured. "I've never heard of it."

Thomas looked up. "It's where you don't develop any sexual attraction towards anyone unless you have a deep connection with someone, whether emotionally or romantically."

"So that's why you never had a partner," Newt said aloud. "You've never been too close to someone. Except us."

"Yeah," Thomas answered playfully. "Which is why I developed an attraction to you too in freshman year."

"Glad we had this talk," interrupted Minho. "But the movie's going and I wanna eat before the food gets cold."

Thomas cocked an eyebrow. "Looks like someone's a Harry Potter nerd at heart."

"Or he just really loves food," murmured Newt before getting comfortable on the couch.

"Nah," replied the Asian. "I just love to cuddle."

"Someone's a panda at heart too!" teased the brunette. Minho rolled his eyes playfully before giving the boy a peck on the cheek, then giving his British boyfriend.

The threesome ended up watching some Netflix after the movie, which Thomas loved by the way. And somehow, the three boys had gotten obsessed with Teen Wolf. Why has the world done this to them? It was so addicting.

"God damn it, Derek," Newt cursed after watching the fourth episode of the first season. "Tyler Hoechlin is soooo hot."

"Mh, Stiles is awesome!" argued Thomas. "He's the humor in the show, and he's always there for Scottie. The best friend everyone wants."

"Haha, both of you are bad judges," laughed the oldest. "Jackson is obviously the best."

"Ew!" gasped his two lovers. "Jackson?"

Minho made a thoughtful face before nodding. Thomas shook his head vigorously while Newt held a hand up to Minho's face.

"We are no longer friends."

"Aww," cooed the Asian. "You love me."

He wrapped the blonde in a hug before pecking his face. Newt let a smile crack through the bad poker face. The Brit could never gamble. He was too bad.

"Hate you."

"Love me."

"Love you," the Brit smiled softly.

"You two can sleep at my house tonight if you want," offered Minho after a comfortable silence. Both nodded eagerly, but then Newt frowned. The Asian noticed how adorable the Brit looked with his nose scrunched up. God, he was so obsessed.

"I don't have any anything to sleep in," stressed Newt. Thomas nodded in agreement.

"And too tired to go back," he mumbled.

"Sleep in my shirts," shrugged Minho. "C'mon."

The boy got up, and Newt whined in loss. There goes his blanket. He still has his pillow though. And Thomas isn't getting away from the clingy boy.

The two younger boy's reluctantly got up before following their boyfriend. Minho led them to his room before handing them both old shirts. Thomas put his on right away, and breathed in the scent of the Asian. Old Spice, aftershave, protein drinks, and a musky smell that was purely Minho. The short was worn soft, and Thomas instantly fell in love with it.

Newt's shirt went past his thighs and over his boxers. The neckline was ridiculously big on him, since Minho has broad shoulders and a big neck. The shirt slipped off his shoulder, and Newt fixed it with an adorable frown. Minho almost cooked as the two boys turned in his shirt.

The threesome shamelessly cuddled and snuggled that night in Minho's bed. Newt was safe in the middle, while Minho laid on his back, the blonde' head on the taller boy's chest and back to Thomas, who was spooning him and touching Minho's arm. It was one of the last restful nights the three boy's had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: God, I'm sooooooo sorry. School's started, and it's just been really annoying, so no time to write. Don't expect as many frequent updates. Sorry if the characters seemed OOC. I'm trying so hard to keep them as one person. I brought up everyone's sexuality, and Thomas is demi-sexual. Meanwhile, other stories are capturing my heart, but I won't give up on this. And Minho is a Jackson Whittemore fanboy. While Newt thinks Derek is hot, and Thomas's favorite character is Stiles. And yes, the three some shamelessly cuddles, but tells no one. What was your favorite part in this chapter. I loved the cookie scene. Oh Minho. And I need a beta for this story. Anyone willing to help me out? Tell me what you think, like, and what I can fix in the reviews. See ya!


	7. College and Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three boys were standing at the airport. Two were holding luggage. One had tears in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 7: College and Departure

Newt hummed in content from where he was laying on Minho's huge bed. He was in the middle of the Asian while Thomas was on the other side of them. Newt wasn't even paying attention to the movie. He was just relishing being in his two boyfriend's presence. He breathed in deeply and hummed in delight.

Minho smelled the same. Old Spice, aftershave, those disgusting protein drinks he always drinks every morning. He had this musky scent that Newt couldn't place. He would describe it as Minho. His scent was exhilarating and addicting. Newt wasn't ever going to get tired of it.

Thomas smelled like coffee and mint. It left a sharp, tangy feeling on the tip of the blonde's tongue. Every time Newt breathed it in, he felt like he was at home. He felt like everything was right in the world after breathing in the brunette's scent.

Summer was going to end soon, and Newt was worried. He knew Minho wanted to take up the family business as a lawyer. Newt wanted to go to medical school. Thomas didn't know what he wanted to be yet.

But the thing was, colleges. One of them could be moving across the freaking country to go to one. They had already got their acceptance letters, but never talked about it. It frightened Newt. He didn't want to be left behind again. He didn't want to be separated from his two lovers. They only got a summer together.

Minho noticed his boyfriend's face scrunching up in worry. He sighed before sitting up and starting to massage the Brit's head. Newt moaned at the sensation.

"I told you not to think about it," reprimanded the Asian. "It makes your face scrunch up, which causes wrinkles! Anyway, we're all here now, so we should enjoy it."

"We can worry about college later," agreed Thomas. He propped himself up with one arm to look into the chocolate orbs of Newt, face serious, but loving. "Just enjoy us while we're here."

"I'm just..." started Newt before cutting off. "Well, what if something happens at college? What if one of you finds someone else, or you get hurt? There's the fact of just not seeing each other."

"I'm not gonna leave you two. You both each have half of my heart," Minho explained, and Newt smiled softly. The Asian rarely talked about his feelings, so saying that he and Thomas each had a half of his heart was a very sweet gesture. "And Thomas is absolutely smitten with both of us, so nothing to worry about there."

Newt smiled softly, but then frowned again. "What college are you guys going to?" he asked softly.

"Newt...," began Thomas, but the blonde cut him off.

"No," he said firmly. "We have to talk about this sometime. Why not now?"

"Fine," sighed Minho. "I was thinking I'm going to attend Stanford."

Newt's eyes widened. "Me too!"

The Asian looked confused. "What?"

"Stanford," Newt repeated slowly. "I heard their medical school was fantastic. I got my acceptance letter already."

"No way," Minho breathed. "So did I."

Thomas looked away. Great, they were going to be together in an amazing school while he was here alone in Fresno.

"Tommy?"

Newt wanted him to say he was going to Stanford too, but that was wishful thinking. He knew Thomas didn't have the best grades.

"Imgoingtoacommunitycollege," Thomas mumbled quickly.

"What?"

"I'm going to the community college here," the brunette spoke louder, head lowered.

"That's great!" Minho said after a moment, trying to lighten the mood. "We're all in the same state!"

"Ya, I guess," Thomas frowned.

"Hey," Newt said. "Cheer up. We'll come to visit every time we can and show how much we love you every time."

Thomas nodded, a small smile on his face. "Alright. Promise?" He knew it was silly to be scared. But Minho and Newt had known each other longer and he was scared they might leave him.

"Promise," both boys said.

_/Line Break\_

Three boys were standing at the airport. Two were holding luggage. One had tears in his eyes.

"I'll miss you," Thomas says, gathering both of them in a hug.

"Me too," they both responded simultaneously. Thomas let go and studied their faces for a second.

Minho dived in for a kiss. His thumb caressed his boyfriend's cheek and they pulled away, but his thumb did not. "I'm gonna miss you, shuckface." 

Thomas laughed. "Me too, Min." He turned to Newt.

"Love you, babe," he whispers before crashing his lips against the Brit's. It lasted a few moments before Newt broke it and rested his head against Thomas's.

"Love you too, Tommy," he smiles sadly.

Minho watched the people around them. They all saw Thomas kiss Minho, then Newt. Some were whispering furiously to each other. One woman went as far as to snort "whore" before Minho was upon her.

"What was that?" he asked coldly, his dark eyes cutting into her.

She gave a nervous laugh before standing up tall and meeting his gaze. Minho held it until she looked away.

"That's what I thought," he muttered. He looks at the woman, snakes an arm around Newt's waist, and kissed him too. He looked back at her again, and smirked when she had a dumbstruck look on her face.

They waited in line together. When they were done, the they looked at each other sadly.

Three boys said goodbye. Two went into the airport. One was left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: GUYS, IM NOT DEAD. Almost with all this stupid school work. Ugh. I haven't forgotten about this yet. Ok, I tried to make the college thing as accurate as possible. Which is probably not that accurate. Oh well. IMPORTANT QUESTION. Do you want smut? And if so, who would be the top, bottom, and switch? Tell me what you think, like, and what I should fix in the reviews. SEE YA


	8. Proof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 8: Proof

As Newt and Minho got in the airport, there was suddenly a huge hug from an excited brunette.

"Thomas," greeted Minho, pleased he had his lovers at his side again. The Asian nuzzled Thomas's hair lovingly.

"Tommy!" Newt exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Thomas's neck and kissed him. The other boy nearly melted as his eyes shut in bliss.

"I missed you guys," mumbled Thomas, blue eyes wide. "It was boring here without you two." He linked hands with both of them as he led them to get their bags. People in the airport stared, some going as far to sneer in their direction. Minho just glared until they looked away. Good, they had no right to judge.

The three went to grab their luggage. Thomas took Newt's, no matter how much the blonde protested.

"You have a bad leg," Thomas reminded him. "Let me carry your stuff."

Newt huffed, but let him carry it. They walked to the brunette's car and hauled it in the truck. Thomas took the wheel while Minho climbed in the passenger seat. That left Newt in the backseat. The Brit stuck his head in the front seat and pecked Thomas's cheek. This made him smile goofily and stare into the chocolate brown orbs. Minho snorted at the smitten expression.

"Go," he laughed. This snapped Thomas out of his stupor. He drove out of the parking lot, humming to himself. He hasn't been this happy since, well, since Minho and Newt were at home.

"We should go out for dinner," suggested Thomas. "Catch up with each other."

His two lovers nodded. "That'd be fun," Minho said. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Olive Garden!" declared Thomas with a grin. He loved Olive Garden. Minho chuckled.

"Alright. Is that fine with you, Newt?"

The Brit nodded. "Of course."

Thomas fist pumped, making Minho roll his eyes. "You're way too excited about this," he stated.

"I have my boyfriends back and we get to go to my favorite restaurant ever." Thomas stared at the Asian like he was crazy. "Of course I'm excited!"

"We are too."

_/Line Break\_

James Pomeroy stood in front of Ava Paige, a high ranking government official in WICKED. The boy looked nervous that he was in the presence of such an important person, but this was an important matter that needed to be discussed.

"Are you sure you saw what you did?"

"Positive," James answered. "Minho Park had two names marked on him."

Ava Paige frowned. "We can't pluck them away and start testing on them just because you said you saw something. I need actual proof."

"I can get you proof," the boy said after a moment.

"If you're lying..."

"I'm not. I'm telling the truth. These three all have two soulmates."

Ava nodded once. "Alright. Get proof and we can see why this phenomenon happened."

_/Line Break\_

"This is soooo good!" Thomas groaned, eating another piece of chicken parmesan.

Minho chuckled. "I'm starting to get jealous of that food."

"This food is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Hey!" the blonde boy next to him said indignantly. "What happened to me?"

"Love you too, Newt," Thomas apologized, kissing his boyfriend's cheek.

Newt rolled his eyes. "You better be, Tommy."

"Hey, you guys wanna go walk around downtown later?" the brunette boy asked after shoveling another piece of food in his mouth. Newt wrinkled his nose.

"Manners, Thomas Edison," he admonished playfully. "Sure, I'd like to go downtown.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Such a Brit."

"Last time I was downtown, it wasn't a good experience," Minho muttered. "But sure, as long as we stay away from that area."

"Deal," Thomas said, grinning broadly. More Minewt Time, which is what he's calling his boyfriend time. Damn, the boy has spent way too much time on Tumblr.

Little did the three boys know, a certain someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. The eavesdropper grinned wickedly. Good, they would be out tonight. Time to set his plan in motion.

/Line Break\

"So, how's Stanford?" Thomas asked. He bumped Minho's shoulder with his own. The Asian mock scowled and bumped it back, causing him to bump into Newt.

"It's alright," shrugged the Brit. It was a topic they needed to tread lightly on, seeing how Thomas could get jealous how his two boyfriends went to the same college. One of the best colleges in the country was just rubbing salt into the wound.

"Too much studying," added Minho, scrunching his face up. "How's Fresno?"

"It's alright," answered the blue-eyed boy. He suddenly perked up. "Did you know my dad is probably together with Teresa's mom?"

Newt spit out his water back into the glass. "Really? Is that why you always spend so much time with Teresa?"

"Yeah," Thomas nodded slowly. "Why did you think we always hung out."

"Well...uh...we thought you guys liked each other, explained Minho.

Thomas stared at the two before bursting into laughter.

"Haha! Me and-and Teresa? Together! She's like a sister to me!"

Thomas narrowed his eyes at the other two boys. "You're feeding the stereotype that guys and girls can't hang out a lot without assuming they're together!"

"I dunno why that's even a stereotype," Newt said thoughtfully. "When girls hang out a lot, people don't ever assume they're together. When guys hang out a lot, they might, but not as often. It's weird since the markings do give gay couples."

Minho nodded his head obediently as Thomas launched into a rant about why does homophobia even exist. He was saying how lots of people got the name of someone as the same gender as them, it's considered normal. Then he brought up James Pomeroy calling him a fag.

The Asian boy scowled. He hated James. There was something off about him too. Minho didn't trust him. Not at all.

_/Line Break\_

"I have proof!"

The blonde woman stopped her conversation to eye the teenage boy waving around papers eagerly.

"I-I have pictures," the boy said, thrusting out the papers to her.

She took them and examined each one thoroughly. One was of a shirtless Asian boy. He was laying on a bed with his phone, but the marks were pretty clear on the photo. Thomas and Isaac. She went to the next one. A brunette boy, also shirtless. Two marks, but one name was obviously different. Isaac and Minho. The other one showed a blonde boy shirtless. Minho and Thomas.

The woman handed back the photos with a scowl. "Not good enough. These could've been photoshopped easily."

Anger flashed over the boy's features before the mask was set back into place.

"There are hidden cameras set up in their room," he informed her. "You can look at those."

"I could get you sent to jail for this."

"You could also see this crazy phenomenon that's happened. I swear to god that I'm not lying."

Ava Paige eyed James Pomeroy distrustfully before nodding. "Alright. Show me the video footages."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: DUN DUN DUNNNN. JOSH DUN. Sorry TØP fan here. Read and review.


	9. Taken Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews

Chapter 8: Taken Away 

The scratching of a pencil against a sheet of paper resounded through Thomas's room. His dad was out at work, leaving him alone. It's been a couple months since he's seen Minho and Newt, and it's killing him. They'd be back around Thanksgiving, but that wasn't for another two weeks. He skyped them regularly, but he missed actual contact. He couldn't wait till they came home.

The brunette sighed. He missed Minho's dark, piercing eyes and black hair. How Minho's eyes would crinkle at the corners when he laughed. His biting sense of sarcasm and infuriating smirk. The arms wrapped around him as they cuddled and the scent of the Asian enveloping him.

Newt, he missed Newt terribly. Thomas could stare into the blonde's chocolate eyes for hours. He missed the slight British accent and the messy hair that Newt would always pout at when he just woke up.

Thomas raked a hand through his hair. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, wondering what his boyfriends were doing right now. He vaguely registered a car drive up and the front door open, signaling that his dad was home. He waited for the signature greeting yelled by Mr. Edison, but it never came. Probably a hard day at work.

The footsteps thudded up the stairs. They sounded weird though, like there was more than one pair? Thomas shook his head. He was too tired from the lack of sleep and missing his lovers. He massaged his eyes as his door opened. Now the teen was very confused. Usually his father would knock before entering his room. He opened his mouth before feeling a wet cloth close over his mouth and nose. Thomas's eyes widened as he started to thrash around. He heard someone say hold him down, and felt pressure on his arms and legs. His head started to feel funny as the corners of his vision darkened. Thomas's efforts redoubled, but to no avail. The pressure on his body didn't budge. After thirty seconds, his body went limp, and the pressure left. Thomas saw the window of opportunity, but his limbs refused to move. His vision darkened further. He was losing consciousness.

"Get the blindfold," the man above him barked. He heard and felt footsteps moving away from him as the last of his consciousness slipped away, and he fell into darkness.

_/Line Break\_

Newt chewed his lip thoughtfully as he stared at his phone hard. If he stared long enough, maybe it would do something. Another minute of staring, and it still hasn't even buzzed.

"You okay?" a voice from behind him asked. Newt felt strong arms wrap around his waist. Lips kissed his neck.

"He hasn't called, Min," Newt fretted as turned toward Minho. "He would've called by now."

"I'm sure he's fine," assured the Asian. "Thomas goes to college and has a life too, ya know."

Newt huffed and bopped his lover's nose. "Of course, but if he was out, he would've texted. I haven't heard from him in over a day. What if he's gotten in an accident or something."

"I'm sure Thomas's father would've told us," the other boy said. He rolled his eyes at how worried Newt was. "We're not his parents, Newt. We're his lovers."

"Okay," the Brit responded unsurely. He glanced at his phone again. Perhaps Thomas had lost track of time or something. But it didn't seem like him. Or maybe Newt was overreacting.

"Let's finish that episode of Arrow," suggested Minho. "I wanna see what happens to Slade and Oliver. It'll get your mind off of Thomas. He'll call, I know it. He won't throw us aside."

Newt let himself get tugged to Minho's room. His boyfriend set up the laptop while Newt got comfy on the bed. The Brit snuggled up to Minho as Arrow started playing. Tommy will call. He will. He always does.

By the end of three episodes, Thomas still hasn't called. Newt was very worried and a bit sad. Minho was angry. Thomas knew how much these calls cheered them up, why hadn't he called today?

Minho shut the laptop. "Let's go to bed. We have classes tomorrow and it's already 12:30."

Newt didn't budge from where he was curled up into Minho's side. The bigger boy sighed. He really would love to snuggle with Newt tonight, but the bed was a twin. And no matter how slender the Brit was, it was still too small. And Newt sometimes rolled around in his sleep. With two people in a tiny bed, that just doesn't work out.

Minho lifted the boy and gently set him on his own bed. He stifled a yawn before going to his own bed. His head hit the pillow and sleep came on quickly.

"Night," mumbled the blonde boy before sleep overtook him.

"Night," the Asian whispered back. Then they were asleep.

_/Line Break\_

Minho blinked sleepily when he heard a thump to his right. Did Newt fall out of his bed again?

"Newt," he called into the darkness. "You alright?"

"Yeah," a voice said after the pause. Minho's muscles tensed. That wasn't Newt's voice. A simple 'yeah' is pretty easy to voice anyone. But he knew his boyfriend's voice, and there was am accent.

"Alright," the Asian said, trying to stall. He was grasping his brain for what to do. His brain went to the bat beside his bed. His hand curled around the wood before he leapt out of bed and swung wildly at the voice's direction. The bat made contact, there was a loud curse, and a thump.

The lights were turned on, which momentarily blinded Minho. He saw a body on the ground. The one the Asian hit with a bat. Beside him was a tall, slim blonde. Newt.

Minho felt anger rush through his veins, and he turned. There were two other man, dressed up as...electricians? What the hell?

"Shoot him," one man ordered. Minho ran at that one.

He felt a shock travel up his body, before he went limp and fell to the ground. The two men stood over him, and he wanted to badly to tear them apart for doing this to him and Newt.

"Get the bags. And make sure they're knocked out. We want the idiots at the desk to think they're tools."

Minho's eyes widened as he felt a cloth close over his mouth and nose. He tried desperately not to breath in because he knew what this was from the movies. Chloroform. But his body needed air. He gasped in, and felt the effects almost immediately. His vision darkened slowly.

He tried killing the man with his glare, but the guy just laughed. He smirked into Minho's dark vision.

"You're up for lots of fun," was the last thing he heard before blacking out.

_/Line Break\_

Thomas awoke to a white room. There was a bed in the corner, also all white. A small window at the top with bars over it, and a metal door. There was a toilet with soap a sink in the opposite corner of his bed. He rushed to the door and tried to handle, cursing when it didn't budge.

He pounded the door with his hand. "LET ME OUT." He pounded and screamed until his hands were bruised and his throat was raw. But there wasn't anything.

The boy sat on his bed and buried his head in his hands. Where was he? Why was he here? Who took him here? Where was Minho and Newt?

Thomas realized he was shirtless, with the markings uncovered. Minho and Isaac stood stark black against his skin. Whoever put him here, they knew. And they might have Minho and Newt. He pushed away the urge to curl up into a ball.

A sound had his head darting to the metal door. A plastic container had been shoved through a small...flap in the bottom of the door. He stared at the container cautiously before regaining his wits. Thomas rushed to the door and pounded on it again, ignoring his bruised and aching hands.

"HEY!" he shouted. "WHO ARE YOU? WHERE AM I? LET ME OUT?"

He tried pushing the flap at the bottom, but it wouldn't budge. After another five minutes of no one answering, the boy once again gave up. He slid down the door and put his head in his hands. What was he gonna do?

Thomas stared at the container suspiciously before for a minute. Eventually, curiosity got the best of him, and he slowly opened it. Inside was food. A piece of chicken with rice and peas. A fork accompanied it. Thomas stared at the food. He didn't feel hungry, but who knows how long it'll be until he eats next. He reluctantly starts to eat the food, chewing mindlessly. His head started to clear a little. How long has it been since he'd last eaten?

He finished his meal before taking in everything. He needed something, like a weapon. He ran to the toilet first. There was no lid, so he tried to pull off the pipe. It didn't move an inch. He tried the pipe attached to the sink next. The results were the same. The teen stared at the soap dispenser, but there might be a better weapon. He'd leave that as a last resort.

Thomas ran over to his bed and flipped the mattress over. He ran his hand across the bar, trying to find something, anything he could work with. He hissed as he felt a sharp pain in his index finger. Thomas lifted it to his eye to inspect it. Blood dotted the end. He eyed the window before getting an idea. The boy went to the wall closest to his bed and slid the index finger down for one, crude dash. One day, as far as he could tell.

He tried the metal, but there was nothing. There were the sheets and blankets, but it's not like he had to crawl out of a window. If things started getting bad, there was...suicide, but he hoped it'd never come to that. He'd have to find his lovers first. Minho and Newt came before him. He hoped they were alright.

_/Line Break\_

Holy crap, Minho thought as the sunlight seared his eyes from behind the lids. His entire body was one big hurt. The Asian cracked an eye open. Where was he? The place was unfamiliar. The memories from last night rushed back to his head. There were three men in his and Newt's dorm. They...were kidnapped?

Minho shot upwards and opened his eyes, ignoring his body's protests. He needed to find Newt. He needed to make sure Newt was okay. He surveyed his surroundings. A bed, toilet, sink, window, and door. It was nighttime currently. His dark eyes zeroed in on the dark door. Newt was somewhere on the other side of that door. Minho readied himself before charging shoulder first. He slammed into the metal door painfully. The teen backed up and did it again. And again. By the fifth time, his shoulder was screaming in agony. But he had to keep going. He had to get to Newt.

He gave up on the tenth time. The door hadn't budged, and all he got was a sore body, and a hurt shoulder.

"DAMN IT!" screamed the Asian, punching the wall. It made a satisfying crack, and he retracted his hand to inspect the damage. His knuckles were bloody and were swelling. The punch had made him feel better for a brief moment, but it left him with aching knuckles. It wasn't worth it.

He sat on his bed and looked around. Where was he? Why was he here? Where was Newt? Was Thomas also here? Questions came every second, making him feel dizzy. He breathed in harshly to calm himself. Minho wouldn't panic, he couldn't afford it. He had to keep his head on straight and figure this out.

Minho went over the room again. The pipes looked too sturdy to pull off. The soap dispenser would be a flimsy and weak weapon. He checked the metal skeleton of the bed. Nothing. He'd have to rely on punching his way out of this. Or something along those lines.

Minho growled as he tore a strip off his sheets and wrapped it around both knuckles. He set the mattress up against the wall an got into a ready stance. The Asian punched the mattress experimentally. It wasn't top quality, but it'd do. He threw a couple punches at it, ducking at times. He had to be ready for everything this place threw at him.

_/Line Break\_

Newt stared at the white wall, unblinkingly. The Brit kept staring at the wall, trying to steady his breathing. He couldn't have a panic attack now. Especially since no one was here to help. Newt breathed in deeply and slowly, counting to fifteen in his head before letting it out. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't because every time he closed them, he imagined a different kind of horror. Thomas's eyes wide and unblinking. Minho strapped to a machine, screaming himself hoarse.

He hasn't slept or eaten since he's gotten here. He's lost track of the days. It just all blurred together, all of his memories were staring at the white wall. He vaguely remembered a container being shoved at him through a small hole in the wall. The hole had disappeared, and the container was untouched.

Newt stared at the white wall. He didn't know where he was. He had a good idea why he was here though. His soulmates. Which meant these people are going after Thomas and Minho too. Bloody hell, they probably already caught Minho. And if they haven't got Thomas, they were going after him now.

His vision started to tunnel as his mind wandered. What was happening to his boyfriends right now? Have they been caught? His breathing quickened slightly and his vision started tunneling. No, no, no! He couldn't have an attack right now!

Newt focused on steadying his breathing. In for four, out for eight. In for four, out for eight. He repeated the exercise for another five minutes. His vision cleared, leaving him shaky and nauseous. The Brit's stomach lurched, and he rushed to the toilet. He emptied what little food he had left in his stomach.

He washed out his mouth before flopping on the bed. His breathing shook and hot tears burned at his eyes. Newt shook his head and refused to let them fall. He needed to be strong because he didn't know how much longer he'd be here. He had to be strong. For Minho. For Thomas. For everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Uh oh, our boys are in trouble. I don't know lots about chloroform, so tell me any mistakes. Tell me what you think in the comments!


	10. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: Who Cares About Stats
> 
> Fandom: The Maze Runner
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Maze Runner, sadly. James Dashner does. No money is made, but I do like reviews!

Chapter 9: The Beginning

Minho's head shot up as soon as he heard the door open. The whole time he's been here, that door hasn't opened once. A tall, thin man entered the bare room. He had grey hair that was thinning, and a large mole on his face. The man's eyes flickered across the room, pausing at the mattress propped against the wall. He met Minho's glare with a small smirk.

"Minho Park," he greeted. "How's your stay been here?"

Now's his chance! That door may never open again, and he'd be stuck rotting in this cell. The teen shot up and pushed the man against the wall. The guard stationed at the door surged forward, but the man held up a hand.

"That's not how you're supposed to treat someone you've just met," the man reprimanded. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

Minho growled lowly and pressed his forearm against his throat. Again, the man stopped the guard from coming foreword.

"Tell me everything," the Asian barked. "Or-or..."

"Or you'll what? You're in no position to demand things, boy." The tone had gone low and dangerous. "We have you and your...friends locked up. One wrong move could end with one of them without a finger. Or more."

Minho knew he had his hands tied. He let the man go and crossed the room, putting as much distance as he could get between them. He ran his hands through his short hair, resisting the urge to yank at it.

"I'm Assistant Director Janson. You can just call me Janson." Janson's voice went back to that laid-back tone. Minho sneered at the director.

"I think I'll just call you Rat Man," he answered. "Cuz ya know, you look a lot like a rat. Did the rat gene come from your mom's side or your dad's?"

"Quiet!" Rat Man thundered, tiny eyes narrowed even more.

The teen just smirked. He got under Rat Man's skin, and that was good. He decided to push even more. "I wonder if the doctor's thought your mother gave birth to a rat because you probably were tiny enough. Plus, you definitely look the part."

Janson's fury was clear. He turned to the guard. "The prisoner in Cell 697? Cut his fingers o-"

"Wait!" Minho yelled. "Wait! I'm sorry, okay? If anyone's fingers get cut off, it should be mine. Please, don't hurt them."

It was so hard to beg the man, but the Asian had to. He couldn't let Thomas or Newt suffer because of his own hotheadedness. Minho was actually one step away from getting on his knees. Janson clucked his tongue.

"I'm feeling...generous today. Be careful, boy, because you won't get away with another mishap."

Minho swallowed down his white-hot fury. He hated not having the tiniest bit on control in this situation. He wanted so badly to punch the man as hard as he could, to feel the satisfying ache in his knuckles as they hopefully broke Janson's jaw. But he couldn't. So he forced down all those feelings and bottled them up for later.

"What do you want?"

"No thank you? Fine then." Janson smirked, knowing he had all the power in his hands. "You see, the world has very little knowledge on the soulmate situation. Why do we even have soulmates? How are our soulmates picked for us? Why is it tattooed on a specific place on our body? All very confusing stuff, but you, you and your friends are the most confusing." The man started pacing, with an agitated air around him. "Why did you get TWO soulmarks? For as long as we can remember, there's been one soulmark for every person. What makes your bond so special?"

Minho glared. "Dunno, I thought you were smart."

Rat Man just laughed. "We will find out though. Through lots and lots of tests." He smirked at Minho one last time before leaving and closing the door.

The teen shot up and pounded on the door. "HEY! WE AREN'T FINISHED HERE. COME BACK!"

When it was clear Janson wasn't coming back, Minho slid down to the floor, his blood pounding. He wanted so badly to hurt someone. He wanted to feel flesh beneath his fists and see someone's eyes rolling into the back of their head. He wanted to murder Janson and everyone else who kept him apart from Thomas and Newt. And he didn't know how he felt about that.

_/Line Break\_

"Subject A expressed immense anger. Subject B was pleading for us to let everyone else go and have him. Subject C was despondent to everything."

Ava Paige fixed Director Janson with a hard stare. "Subject C, is he still refusing to eat?"

The man nodded. "We can hook him up to and IV-"

"No. It's time to start the tests. We don't have all the time in the world. You're sure this new machine will work?"

"It's been tested many times on many different people. Successful every single time. The subjects will be fine," Janson assured her.

"Good." Paige nodded curtly. "I don't want them hurt in any way. We need them to be in top shape for the experiments."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Janson? Give them five minutes together before starting the process. Report back to me how they act."

_/Line Break\_

Thomas shrugged off a guard's grip with a glare. "Where are you taking me?"

No response. The two guards surrounding him kept stony faces and they stared ahead impassively. Thomas resigned to his fate and obediently walked. For now.

They stopped at this huge metal door. The one on the right released his arm to unlock it with a keycard. That's when he struck.

The teen punched the guard holding him in the throat. He took the gun and hesitated for a second. Is he willing to kill someone so he could escape? Thomas saw the other guard fumble with his gun and pulled the trigger.

Instead of blood, the man convulsed on the floor. A stun gun. He was mentally thankful that he didn't have to kill anyone today. He turned to the other guard and shot him too, confiscating the gun and tucking it in his waistband.

He gripped the stunner with both hands as he took the key from the body and unlocked the door. It slid open, and he crept inside. A quick scan showed no one in the room. The room branched off into three hallways, each with a door at the end. He ran to the door in front of him.

An alarm made him freeze. The red lights were flashing, which only meant they knew he was on the loose. Thomas cursed, it wasn't that long since he took out his captors. He slid the key in the doorway, only for it to turn red.

"No, no, no!" he muttered as he swiped it again and again. Each time, the light flashed red. He was stuck.

"Thomas!"

Director Janson was marching down the hallway with five guards. They were each equipped with a clear shield and guns. The teen didn't know if they were fatal, and personally didn't wanna find out. He growled and swiped the card again.

"It's not gonna work!" Janson called, motioning the guards to walk forward. "Just drop the gun and we won't do anything!"

"That's a lie," he responded angrily, tightening his grip on the stunner. "You've always planned to do something to me!"

"We have great plans for you," Janson said. "You just have to cooperate and no one gets hurt."

"You're lying," Thomas shouted. He pulled the trigger and watched Janson duck behind a shield. He kept shooting, even though he knew it was futile, that the guards would block it. He had to keep trying. For Minho and Newt.

The guards fired back. They were stunners, luckily. Or unluckily. Thomas didn't know if he wanted them to take him alive. He didn't want to see what they had in store for him. With five guards shooting at him in a hallway, one of them was bound to hit their target. The boy watched as the beam came at him in what seemed like slow motion. It hit his shoulder, and he fell to the ground. His body convulsed as he yelled out in pain. Janson's face loomed over him as he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

"After how nice we've treated you, this is how you thank us? It's a shame, you would've been able to see the others before the wipe, but you've just taken that privilege away."

Darkness crept into Thomas's vision. He tried to say something, but his lips wouldn't move. A sedative. He wanted to yell abuse at them, but the cold darkness overtook him. He gladly succumbed to it.

_/Line Break\_

"We had to sedate Subject B. Subject A and C were very grateful to see each other, but were yelling for B."

Ava nodded. "What was the problem with Thomas?" She didn't refer to them as subjects very often, for some odd reason.

"He stunned the two guards escorting him to his room with their own guns, then shot at the guards trying to subdue him."

The woman pursed her lips in displeasure. What good were two guards if they were taken out with their own guns by an unarmed teenager? "The guards in charge of the boy? Get rid of them."

"Yes, ma'am."

_/Line Break\_

Thomas woke up with a groan. A bright light burned through his eyelids, causing him to whimper. He ripped his eyelids open, dreading what was there.

He was strapped to a metal table. Thomas tried moving his limbs, but the straps were too tight. A bright light hung above him, like in all those movies where they give surgery to a patient. He tilted his head and saw three figures at a console. One took notice of him.

"He's awake."

"He shouldn't be for another five hours!"

"Go look for yourself."

"Give him more sedative. Make sure he stays under! It'd be a disaster if he woke up in the middle of the process. It's very delicate. One wrong move could ruin him."

That's the last thing he could remember. Then everything went black again. He didn't fight it.

_/Line Break\_

"Subjects are complete. What's the first environment we send them to?"

"Send them to The Maze. Janson, you've made sure that any other possible variable is taken care of?"

"Everything."

"Good. Send them in. Subject A, then C, then B.

_/Line Break\_

Newt looked around the place, trying to take it all in. All he knew was that he was carried up in this metal box, then a bunch of boys saved him. Now, he was in what they called The Maze. Everyone else had the same problem. They couldn't remember anything.

"Hey, what's your name again?"

Newt turned to the sound of the voice. It belonged to a tall Asian boy. He had short black hair and dark, dangerous eyes. He was well built, he had to be. A runner ran the Maze all day.

"Er, Newt," he answered. For some reason, his left collarbone itched. He scratched at it absentmindedly. Perhaps a bug or something along those lines.

"Minho." Minho held out a hand for Newt to shake. He had warm hands and a strong grip. It made an inexplicable feeling rise up from the Brit's stomach. He felt safe for those few moments they grasped each other's hands.

"You're the newbie, right?" Newt nodded.

"I'll show ya around. I was the newbie last week, so I know how ya feel. It's a lot to take in, but you'll get used to it."

The boy shrugged. "I hope so."

"That's Alby. He's the shank that runs this joint. Frypan cooks, but be careful for stray hairs. That beard can be pretty gross. Ben is another runner. He's cool, I guess. Chuck's the youngest. He..."

Newt listened to Minho talk with content. The other boy gave him this feeling like home. He didn't exactly know what home feels like, but he was sure that's what it felt like.

After half an hour or so, Minho had run out of things to talk about. "Alright shank. I gotta go map. Talk to ya later."

Newt just nodded and watched the Asian run away. He walked back to his bunk and sat down, feeling very confused. Why did he feel so drawn to Minho? It feels like as if he knows him. The blonde shook off that feeling. The events of the day were catching up to him.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, rubbing at his collarbone. He went to the mirror and stripped off his shirt. The brown eyes trailed down to his left collarbone.

Nothing there, just a red mark. He'd been at least expecting a mosquito bite or something.

"Just nerves. Get yourself together." He really hoped he could.

_/Line Break\_

"Hey, a greenie!"

Newt's heart jumped as he sprinted towards the Box. This was his chance to see someone else come out of the Box. It's been a week, and they were due for another boy.

"Wonder if he's gonna be hot," Minho whispered in his ear.

Newt felt the heat rush up to his face as the other boy's nose brushed his ear. Minho hadn't been shy when he told him he liked boys. Truth be told, Newt was pretty sure he liked boys too. Or maybe just Minho.

The Box halted to a stop, and Alby opened the door. Sunlight filtered through. The dark-skinned boy held out his hand and hoisted the newbie up. Newt's breath was taken away and he felt Minho tense beside him.

The new boy was tall and lean. He had adorably messy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. The eyes found their way to him and Minho, and pinned them both down.

"Where am I?" he asked, voice rough. Newt involuntarily shuddered. He felt like he knew the boy, maybe in another life.

"The Maze," Alby answered. "What's your name, greenie?"

"Thomas. My name's Thomas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: DUN DUN DUNNNNN. Sorry I've been dead since august, but now I'm alive again!


End file.
